ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A CELLULOSE-NEGATIVE, ACETAN-PRODUCER MUTANT STRAIN OF ACETOBACTER-XYLINUM

A nitrosoguanidine, non-reverting cellulose-negative mutant strain of Acetobacter xylinum was isolated. This strain, named PEA-1, showed sim ilar yields and biosynthesis rates of soluble exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced in vivo, as compared with acetan production of wild-type stra in NRRL B42. Both EPS resulted indistinguishable by acid hydrolysis, o n either paper chromatography, or high-performance liquid chromatograp hy (HPLC) analysis. In addition, in vitro studies, involving incubatio ns of EDTA-treated cells with sugar nucleotide diphosphates, showed th at strain PEA-1 was able to synthesize lipid linked intermediates, inv olved in acetan biosynthesis.