Production, structural characterization and gel forming property of a new exopolysaccharide produced by Agrobacterium HX1126 using glycerol or d-mannitol as substrate.

A strain Agrobacterium HX1126 was isolated from soil sample near the canal in Wuxi. Glycerol was used as carbon source for the production of a new exopolysaccharide which was named PGHX. PGHX composed mainly of galactose, with lower amounts of arabinose and aminogalactose. It was found that this strain could use d-mannitol as carbon source to produce PGHX too. A method for the preparation of crude PGHX was proposed and the crude PGHX can be formed in a gel formation when 30 g/L was put into the boiling water for 10 min, with an achieved gel strength of 957 g/cm(2). The concentration of proteins in the crude product was considered to be an important parameter which directly influence the gel forming property. The highest production of PGHX (24.9 g/L) was obtained under the nitrogen depletion condition. The structure of the product was confirmed by NMR and FTIR.