CELLULOSE PRODUCTION BY ACETIC ACID-RESISTANT ACETOBACTER-XYLINUM

A bacterium that could produce a gelatinous cellulosic pellicle in the presence of more than 2% acetic acid was isolated as a contaminant in a continuous surface culture for acetic acid production using Acetoba cter aceti. The bacterium was identified as a strain belonging to Acet obacter xylinum and designated as strain DA. The production of cellulo se in a static culture of the strain increased about 4-fold as a resul t of adding 20 g acetic acid per liter of the glucose medium, The enha ncement vias specific to acetic acid among the organic acids tested, a nd was not due to a shift of pH. The cellulose pellicle produced was c haracterized by a higher water-holding capacity, about 2-fold that of Acetobacter pasteurianus. In a serial transfer culture, the cellulose production by the strain was better in reproducibility than A. pasteur ianus.