Bacterial Polysaccharides

Staining bacterial polysaccharides.

Bacterial extracellular polysaccharides involved in biofilm formation.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by microorganisms are a complex mixture of biopolymers primarily consisting of polysaccharides, as well as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and humic substances. EPS make up the intercellular space of microbial aggregates and form the structure and architecture of the biofilm matrix. The key functions of EPS comprise the mediation of the initial ...

Remodeling bacterial polysaccharides by metabolic pathway engineering.

Introducing structural modifications into biomolecules represents a powerful approach to dissect their functions and roles in biological processes. Bacterial polysaccharides, despite their rich structural information and essential roles in bacterium-host interactions and bacterial virulence, have largely been unexplored for in vivo structural modifications. In this study, we demonstrate the inc...

The depolymerization of bacterial polysaccharides by hyalyronidase preparations.

It has been demonstrated that some strains of Aerobacter aerogenes and Achromobacter fischeri synthesized relatively large amounts of a mucopolysaccharide which was depolymerized by hyaluronidase (Warren, 1950, 1951). This synthesis is of special interest because the bacterial mucopolysaccharide (hyaluronic acid) depolymerized by hyaluronidase has been generally assumed to be limited to the cap...

The inhibition of bacteriophagy by bacterial and nonbacterial polysaccharides.

Studies of susceptibility to bacteriophage have shown that polysaccharides associated with somatic bacterial antigens may inhibit the lytic action of bacteriophages upon susceptible homologous organisms. Levine and Frisch (1933 a,b) demonstrated this inhibitory effect with extracts from certain Salmonella and Shigella cultures. Burnet (1934) confirmed these findings; and Gough and Burnet (1934)...