(a) Sorbose (L-sorbose, sorbinose) (C6H12O6, CAS Reg. No. 87–79–6) is an orthorhombic, bisphenoidal crystalline ketohexose. It was originally identifed in the juice of mature berries from the mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) where it occurs as the result of microbial oxidation of sorbitol. It also occurs naturally in other plants. Sorbose can be synthesized by the catalytic hydrogenation of gluc...

Production of bacterial cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum ATCC 10821 and 23770 in static cultures was tested from unamended food process effluents. Effluents included low-solids (LS) and high-solids (HS) potato effluents, cheese whey permeate (CW), or sugar beet raffinate (CSB). Strain 23770 produced 10% less cellulose from glucose than did strain 10821 and diverted more glucose to gluconate. Un...

The purpose of this study was to develop a new use for microbial cellulose produced by the bacterium, Acetobacter xylinum. There is a potential application of bacterial cellulose to construct a nano-scale laminar flow reactor. Small particles (i.e. enzymes or solid phase reactants) can be embedded in a growing cellulose matrix with geographic specificity. A fluid containing a substrate can then...

More than ten â-glycosyltransferases are now recognized that have limited similarity to the amino acid sequence of cellulose synthase from Acetobacter xylinum. Using hydrophobic cluster analysis (HCA), we recently identified two domains and putative catalytic residues in the processive âglycosyltransferases. In this study, we have found expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from higher plants (Arabido...

The citrate synthase activity of Acetobacter xylinum cells grown on glucose was the same as of cells grown on intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The activity of citrate synthase in extracts is compatible with the overall rate of acetate oxidation in vivo. The enzyme was purified 47-fold from sonic extracts and its molecular weight was determined to be 280000 by gel filtration. It ha...

Microbial cellulose (MC) synthesized in abundance by Acetobacter xylinum shows vast potential as a novel wound healing system. The high mechanical strength and remarkable physical properties result from the unique nanostructure of the never-dried membrane. This article attempts to briefly summarize the recent developments and applications of MC in the emerging field of novel wound dressings and...

Cyclic diguanylic acid acts as a regulator for cellulose synthase activity in the bacterium Acetobacter xylinum. We report the x-ray crystal structure of the regulator at atomic resolution. The structure contains two independent molecules that adopt almost identical conformations. The two molecules form self-intercalated units that are stacked on each other. Two different G.G base-pairing modes...

Bacteria and other prokaryotic organisms such as blue-green algae do not in general contain any of the conventional sterols found in plants and animals, but rather many species have related molecules, i.e. pentacyclic triterpenoids, based on a hopane skeleton with a cyclopentane E-ring and termed ‘hopanoids’ (from the plant genus Hopea, from which they were isolated as components of the resin (...

The influence of hemicelluloses on the aggregation of cellulose in higher plant cell walls was modelled by adding hemicelluloses to cultures of the cellulose producer Acetobacter xylinum. Characterization of the celluloses by X-ray diffractometry showed them to be more like those that occur in higher plants; the coaggregation of the hemicelluloses suggests their occlusion within and between the...