Isolation of extracellular polysaccharides from Sclerotium rolfsii

Abstract

Five sediments of extracellular, soluble polysaccharides were extracted from washings of Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. grown in submerged culture. Only the first sediment contained the β-(1—3)-glucan. laminarin, which was degradable by an endo β-(1—3)-glucanase extracted from S. rolfsii. The four remaining sediments were glycoproteins differing in their chemical composition and infrared absorbance spectra, and they were degradable only by a specific bacterial extracellular enzyme.