Analysis and glycosyl composition of the exopolysaccharide isolated from the floc-forming wastewater bacterium Thauera sp. MZ1T

Michael S. Allen, Karen T. Welch, Benjamin S. Prebyl, David C. Baker, Arthur J. Meyers, Gary S. Sayler

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Abstract

Conditions were developed for the reproducible production, isolation and characterization of a novel microbial extracellular polysaccharide believed to be involved in transient viscous bulking at an industrial wastewater treatment plant. The exopolysaccharide was extracted from cell-free culture supernatants of Thauera sp. strain MZ1T grown on a minimal medium with succinate. The purified polymer was found to be approximately 260 kDa in size by gel-permeation chromatography. The GC-MS analysis of the alditol acetate and per-O-trimethylsilyl methyl glycoside derivatives revealed that the exopolysaccharide was composed of four monosaccharides including: rhamnose, galacturonic acid, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylfucosamine. Glucose, which also appeared at low levels, is most likely from a co-eluting glucan. The FTIR and NMR spectroscopic analyses further revealed the presence of esterified component groups on the polymer. These results represent the first published description of a polysaccharide from a member of the genus Thauera, and lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of the factors potentially involved in zoogloeal cluster formation and viscous bulking.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)780-790
Number of pages11
JournalEnvironmental Microbiology
Volume6
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2004

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