Bacterial alginate: physiology, product quality and process aspects

Alginate, a copolymer Of beta -D-mannuronic acid and alpha -L-guluronic aci d and currently commercially produced from the marine brown algae, can also be biologically produced by bacteria such as Azotobacter vinelandii, A. ch roococcum and several species of Pseudomonas. The ever-increasing applicati ons of this polymer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors have led to cont inuing research interest aimed at better understanding the metabolic pathwa ys, the physiological or biological function of this polymer, the regulatio n of its formation and composition, and optimising the microbial production process. These aspects are reviewed here, with particular attention to alg inate formation in the soil bacterium A. vinelandii. In addition, the biote chnological and industrial applications of alginate are summarised.