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Extracellular polysaccharides produced by bacteria of the Leuconostoc genus

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Abstract

Structurally diverse biopolymers, including extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), synthesized by bacteria can possess physicochemical and functional properties that make them important products of microbial synthesis with a broad and versatile biotechnological potential. Leuconostoc spp. belongs to the group of lactic acid bacteria as one of the predominant members and are relevant not only in varied food fermentations, but also can be employed in the production of extracellular homopolysaccharides (HoPS) such as α-glucans (dextran, alternan) and β-fructans (levan,inulin) from the sucrose-containing substrates. EPS are synthesized by specific Leuconostoc spp. extracellular glycosyltransferases [dextran sucrase, alternansucrase (ASR)] and fructosyltransferases (levansucrase, inulosucrase) and enzymatic reactions can be performed in whole culture systems as well as using cell-free enzymes. Both α-glucans and β-fructans have a wide range of properties, mostly depending on their pattern of linkages, which, although differing in some respects, make suitable prerequisites for their versatile application in many fields, especially in the food industry and biomedicine. As a rule, these properties (polymer type, molecular mass, rheological parameters), as well as the overall EPS yield, are strain-specific for the selected producers and depend to a large extent on the nutritional and growth conditions used, which in many cases remain not sufficiently optimized for Leuconostoc spp. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the potential of Leuconostoc spp. to produce commercially relevant EPS, including information on their applications in various fields, producer strains, production methods and techniques used, selected conditions, the productivity of bioprocesses as well as the possible use of renewable resources for their development.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the first author on reasonable request and/or are freely accessible via the Internet.

Notes

  1. https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/enzyme.php?ecno=2.4.1.5.

  2. https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/enzyme.php?ecno=2.4.1.140.

  3. https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/enzyme.php?ecno=2.4.1.10.

  4. https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/enzyme.php?ecno=2.4.1.9.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Support Service of the Republic of Latvia (grant number 19-00-A01612-000004). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation or the decision to submit the work for publication.

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Correspondence to Pavels Semjonovs.

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Zikmanis, P., Brants, K., Kolesovs, S. et al. Extracellular polysaccharides produced by bacteria of the Leuconostoc genus. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 36, 161 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-020-02937-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-020-02937-9

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