Affiliation:
1. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 Tenerife, Spain
2. Departamento de Microbiología y Biología Celular, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 Tenerife, Spain
Abstract
The interaction between the acidic exopolysaccharides produced by two
Bradyrhizobium
strains and several metal cations has been studied. Aqueous solutions in the millimolar range of Fe
3+
but not of Fe
2+
precipitated the exopolysaccharides from
Bradyrhizobium (Chamaecytisus)
strain BGA-1 and, to a lesser extent,
Bradyrhizobium japonicum
USDA 110. The precipitation was pH dependent, with a maximum around pH 3. The precipitate was redissolved by changing the pH and by Fe
3+
reduction or chelation. Deacetylation of
B. japonicum
polysaccharide increased its precipitation by Fe
3+
. At pH near neutrality, the polysaccharide from
Bradyrhizobium (Chamaecytisus)
strain BGA-1 stabilized Fe
3+
solutions, despite the insolubility of Fe(OH)
3
. Aluminum precipitated
Bradyrhizobium (Chamaecytisus)
polysaccharide but not the polysaccharide produced by
B. japonicum.
The precipitation showed a maximum at about pH 4.8, and the precipitate was redissolved after Al
3+
chelation with EDTA. Precipitation was inhibited by increases in the ionic strength over 10 mM.
Bradyrhizobium (Chamaecytisus)
polysaccharide was also precipitated by Th
4+
, Sn
2+
, Mn
2+
, and Co
2+
. The presence of Fe
3+
increased the exopolysaccharide precipitation by aluminum. No precipitation, gelation, or increase in turbidity of polysaccharide solutions occurred when K
+
, Na
+
, Ca
2+
, Mg
2+
, Cu
2+
, Cd
2+
, Pb
2+
, Zn
2+
, Hg
2+
, or U
6+
was added at several pH values. The results suggest that the precipitation is based on the interaction between carboxylate groups from different polysaccharide chains and the partially hydrolyzed aquoions of Fe
3+
, Al
3+
, Th
4+
, and Sn
2+
.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
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