PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE POLYSACCHARIDE CAPSULE OF THE MARINE BACTERIUM, HYPHOMONAS STRAIN MHS-3

Hyphomonas MHS-3 is a biphasic, marine bacterium that synthesizes an e xopolysaccharide (EPS) capsule, which has a role in attaching the adhe rent, prosthecate developmental stages to solid substrata. To correlat e structure with function, we characterized this integral EPS. It has a relatively homogeneous molecular weight of approximately 60 000 dalt ons, is acidic, and putatively contains large concentrations of N-acet ylgalactosamine (GaINAc). The theoretical identity of the anionic comp onent of the polymer, and the similarities between Hyphomonas MHS-3 EP S and other adhesive marine/aquatic bacterial EPS are discussed.