PRODUCTION OF A NOVEL EXTRACELLULAR POLYSACCHARIDE BY A BACILLUS STRAIN ISOLATED FROM SOIL

A bacterium that was isolated from soil and identified as Bacillus circulans was found to produce a highly viscous extracellular polysaccharide when it was grown aerobically in a medium containing glucose as a sole source of carbon. The product was characterized by TLC and GC analyses as a novel heteropolysaccharide consisted of rhamnose, mannose, galactose, and mannuronic acid as sugar components. A maximal yield of polysaccharide reached about 2 g/liter by jar-fermentor culture at 30-degrees-C for 48 hr with a medium containing 1% glucose, 0.05% asparagine, 0.005% yeast extract, and small amounts of inorganic salts. Some culture conditions for the production of polysaccharide were investigated with flask culture; an optimal production was attained with a medium containing 0.1-1% glucose and 0.01-0.05% asparagine, pH 7-8, at 30-degrees-C under aerobic conditions.