STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS OF THE EXOPOLYSACCHARIDES PRODUCED BY LACTOBACILLUS SPP. G-77

The exopolysaccharide produced by a ropy strain of Lactobacillus spp. G-77 in a semi-defined medium, was found to be a mixture of two homopo lymers composed of D-Glc. The two polysaccharides were separated and, on the basis of monosaccharide and methylation analyses, H-1, C-13, 1D and 2D NMR experiments, one of the polysaccharides was shown to be a 2-substituted-(1-3)-beta-D-glucan, identical to that described for the EPS from Pediococcus damnosus 2.6 (M.T. Duenas-Chasco, M.A. Rodriguez -Carvajal, P. Tejero-Mateo, G. Franco-Rodriguez, J.L. Espartero, A. Ir astorza-Iribar, and A.M. Gil-Serrano, Carbohydr. Res., 303 (1997) 453- 458), and the other polysaccharide was shown to consist of repeating u nits with the following structure [GRAPHICS] (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.