Alginates are natural polysaccharides that are extracted from brown seaweeds and widely used for their rheological properties. The central step in the extraction protocol used in the alginate industry is the alkaline extraction, which requires several hours. In this study, a significant decrease in alginate dynamic viscosity was observed after 2 h of alkaline treatment. Intrinsic viscosity and ...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of alginate-chitosan microcapsule on viability characteristics of Bacillus subtilis and the ability of B. subtilis/alginate-chitosan microcapsule to remove uranium ion from aqueous solution. The effects of particle size, chitosan molecular weight and inoculum density on viability characteristics were studied using alginate-chitosan microcapsule-imm...

Alginate oligosaccharides with different bioactivities can be prepared through the specific degradation of alginate by alginate lyases. Therefore, alginate lyases that can be used to degrade alginate under mild conditions have recently attracted public attention. Although various types of alginate lyases have been discovered and characterized, few can be used in industrial production. In this s...

Objective The goal of this study was to prepare and characterize alginate microspheres as an antigen delivery system and adjuvant for immunization against leishmaniasis. Materials and Methods Microspheres were prepared by an emulsification technique and characterized for size, encapsulation efficiency, and release profile of encapsulates. Selection of appropriate parameters (viscosity of algina...

The activity of nitrogenase in the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii grown diazotrophically under aerobic conditions is generally considered to be protected against O(2) by a high respiration rate. In this work, we have shown that a high rate of respiration is not the prevailing mechanism for nitrogenase protection in A. vinelandii grown in phosphate-limited nitrogen-free chemost...

BACKGROUND Chitosan and Alginate were used as biopolymers to prepare membranes for protein adsorption. The network requires a cross-linker able to form bridges between polymeric chains. Viscopearl-mini(®) (VM) was used as a support to synthesize them. Six different types of membranes were prepared using the main compounds of the matrix: VM, Chitosan of low and medium molecular weight, and Algin...

Alginic acid gels were studied by small-angle X-ray scattering and rheology to elucidate the influence of alginate chemical composition and molecular weight on the gel elasticity and molecular structure. The alginic acid gels were prepared by homogeneous pH reduction throughout the sample. Three alginates with different chemical composition and sequence, and two to three different molecular wei...

Generally, when microbes assimilate macromolecules, they incorporate low-molecular-weight products derived from macromolecules through the actions of extracellular degrading enzymes. However, a Gram-negative bacterium, Sphingomonas sp. A1, has a smart biosystem for the import and depolymerization of macromolecules. The bacterial cells directly incorporate a macromolecule, alginate, into the cyt...

An adhesive that functions well under moist conditions could facilitate many surgical procedures. In recent studies we designed novel biomimetic glues which mimic the adhesion mechanism of algae, renowned for their remarkable adherence to wet surfaces. Here we extend our previous studies and propose biomimetic formulations, composed of alginate gel and native phloroglucinol, that do not induce ...