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Emulsifying agents from bacteria isolated during screening for cells with hydrophobic surfaces

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Summary

The culture supernatants of 126 bacterial strains isolated during screening for hydrophobic cell surfaces, were tested for the production of emulsifying agents. Forty-eight strains were found to produce effective emulsion-stabilizing substances during growth on glucose. The most effective emulsifying agents were isolated and could be divided into two chemical groups. The first group was separated from the isolated extracts by the use of thin-layer chromatography and detected as ninhydrin-negative, 4,4'-tetramethyldiamino-diphenylmethane-positive spots. The amino acid composition indicated surfactin and iturin, produced by one Bacillus species, and viscosin, produced by a Pseudomonas species. The second group was identified as polymeric substances. The chemical characterization of five polymers showed polysaccharides that were able to stabilize emulsions. From these the neutral and charged monosaccharides were determined qualitatively. The constituents of the five isolated polysaccharides were: strain 5, glucose, strain 17, rhamnose, glucose, glucuronic acid; strain 33, rhamnose, galactose, glucose. glucuronic acid; strain 113, fucose, galactose, glucose, galacturonic acid, glucosamine; strain 259, one unknown compound, rhamnose, galactose, glucuronic acid.

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Author notes

  1. Thomas R. Neu

    Present address: School of Microbiology, University of New South Wales, P.O. Box 1, 2033, Kensington, NSW, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanisches Institut, Mikrobiologie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 1, D-7400, Tübingen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Thomas R. Neu & Karl Poralla

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  1. Thomas R. Neu
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  2. Karl Poralla
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Neu, T.R., Poralla, K. Emulsifying agents from bacteria isolated during screening for cells with hydrophobic surfaces. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 32, 521–525 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00173721

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