Chemical Characterization of Exopolysaccharides from Antarctic Marine Bacteria

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) may have an important role in the Antarctic marine environment, possibly acting as ligands for trace metal nutrients such as iron or providing cryoprotection for growth at low temperature and high salinity. Ten bacterial strains, isolated from Southern Ocean particulate mate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial Ecology
Main Authors: Mancuso Nichols, CA, Lardiere, SG, Bowman, JP, Nichols, PD, Gibson, JAE, Guezennec, J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Verlag 2005
Subjects:
Biological Sciences
Microbiology
Microbiology not elsewhere classified
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-004-0093-8
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16052372
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/29272
Description
Summary:Exopolysaccharides (EPS) may have an important role in the Antarctic marine environment, possibly acting as ligands for trace metal nutrients such as iron or providing cryoprotection for growth at low temperature and high salinity. Ten bacterial strains, isolated from Southern Ocean particulate material or from sea ice, were characterized. Whole cell fatty acid profiles and 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolates included representatives of the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Shewanella, Polaribacter, and Flavobacterium as well as one strain, which constituted a new bacterial genus in the family Flavobacteriaceae. The isolates are, therefore, members of the "Gammaproteobacteria" and Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides, the taxonomic groups that have been shown to dominate polar sea ice and seawater microbial communities. Exopolysaccharides produced by Antarctic isolates were characterized. Chemical composition and molecular weight data revealed that these EPS were very diverse, even among six closely related Pseudoalteromonas isolates. Most of the EPS contained charged uronic acid residues; several also contained sulfate groups. Some strain produced unusually large polymers (molecular weight up to 5.7 MDa) including one strain in which EPS synthesis is stimulated by low temperature. This study represents a first step in the understanding of the role of bacterial EPS in the Antarctic marine environment. Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2005.

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