Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1997 Sep;63(9):3512–3518. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.9.3512-3518.1997

Structural characterization of the exocellular polysaccharides produced by Streptococcus thermophilus SFi39 and SFi12.

J Lemoine 1, F Chirat 1, J M Wieruszeski 1, G Strecker 1, N Favre 1, J R Neeser 1
PMCID: PMC168657  PMID: 9293002

Abstract

We investigated the structures of the exopolysaccharides (EPSs) produced by Streptococcus thermophilus SFi39 and SFi12. Both polymers were found to have molecular masses of greater than 2 x 10(6) Da. The SFi39 EPS consisted of D-glucose and D-galactose in a molar ratio of 1:1, whereas the SFi12 EPS was composed of D-galactose, L-rhamnose, and D-glucose in a molar ratio of 3:2:1. Methylation analysis of and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra recorded from the native polysaccharide, as well as oligosaccharides released by partial acid hydrolysis, allowed the complete structural determination of the SFi39 EPS, which consists of the following tetrasaccharide repeating unit: [formula: see text] Similar spectra recorded only from the native polysaccharide were sufficient to allow the structural determination of the SFi12 EPS, which consists of the following hexasaccharide repeating unit: [formula: see text] This study shows that the texturizing properties of different S. thermophilus ropy strains are based on the production of EPSs exhibiting chemical similarities but structural differences.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (273.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cerning J. Exocellular polysaccharides produced by lactic acid bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 1990 Sep;7(1-2):113–130. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1990.tb04883.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Doco T., Wieruszeski J. M., Fournet B., Carcano D., Ramos P., Loones A. Structure of an exocellular polysaccharide produced by Streptococcus thermophilus. Carbohydr Res. 1990 May 1;198(2):313–321. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(90)84301-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gruter M., Leeflang B. R., Kuiper J., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. Structural characterisation of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus delbrückii subspecies bulgaricus rr grown in skimmed milk. Carbohydr Res. 1993 Feb 1;239:209–226. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(93)84216-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gruter M., Leeflang B. R., Kuiper J., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. Structure of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactococcus lactis subspecies cremoris H414 grown in a defined medium or skimmed milk. Carbohydr Res. 1992 Jul 2;231:273–291. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(92)84025-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Nagaoka M., Hashimoto S., Watanabe T., Yokokura T., Mori Y. Anti-ulcer effects of lactic acid bacteria and their cell wall polysaccharides. Biol Pharm Bull. 1994 Aug;17(8):1012–1017. doi: 10.1248/bpb.17.1012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Nakajima H., Hirota T., Toba T., Itoh T., Adachi S. Structure of the extracellular polysaccharide from slime-forming Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SBT 0495. Carbohydr Res. 1992 Feb 7;224:245–253. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(92)84110-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Neeser J. R., Schweizer T. F. A quantitative determination by capillary gas-liquid chromatography of neutral and amino sugars (as O-methyloxime acetates), and a study on hydrolytic conditions for glycoproteins and polysaccharides in order to increase sugar recoveries. Anal Biochem. 1984 Oct;142(1):58–67. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(84)90516-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Robijn G. W., Gutiérrez Gallego R., van den Berg D. J., Haas H., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. Structural characterization of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus LMG9433. Carbohydr Res. 1996 Jul 19;288:203–218. doi: 10.1016/s0008-6215(96)90799-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Robijn G. W., Thomas J. R., Haas H., van den Berg D. J., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. The structure of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus helveticus 766. Carbohydr Res. 1995 Oct 16;276(1):137–154. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(95)00171-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Robijn G. W., Wienk H. L., van den Berg D. J., Haas H., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. Structural studies of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus paracasei 34-1. Carbohydr Res. 1996 May 14;285:129–139. doi: 10.1016/s0008-6215(96)90178-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Robijn G. W., van den Berg D. J., Haas H., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J. F. Determination of the structure of the exopolysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus sake 0-1. Carbohydr Res. 1995 Oct 16;276(1):117–136. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(95)00172-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Staaf M., Widmalm G., Yang Z., Huttunen E. Structural elucidation of an extracellular polysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus helveticus. Carbohydr Res. 1996 Sep 23;291:155–164. doi: 10.1016/s0008-6215(96)00166-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stingele F., Neeser J. R., Mollet B. Identification and characterization of the eps (Exopolysaccharide) gene cluster from Streptococcus thermophilus Sfi6. J Bacteriol. 1996 Mar;178(6):1680–1690. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.6.1680-1690.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Yamamoto Y., Murosaki S., Yamauchi R., Kato K., Sone Y. Structural study on an exocellular polysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus helveticus TY1-2. Carbohydr Res. 1994 Aug 3;261(1):67–78. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(94)80006-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Yamamoto Y., Nunome T., Yamauchi R., Kato K., Sone Y. Structure of an exocellular polysaccharide of Lactobacillus helveticus TN-4, a spontaneous mutant strain of Lactobacillus helveticus TY1-2. Carbohydr Res. 1995 Oct 2;275(2):319–332. doi: 10.1016/0008-6215(95)00077-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. van den Berg D., Robijn G. W., Janssen A. C., Giuseppin M., Vreeker R., Kamerling J. P., Vliegenthart J., Ledeboer A. M., Verrips C. T. Production of a Novel Extracellular Polysaccharide by Lactobacillus sake 0-1 and Characterization of the Polysaccharide. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1995 Aug;61(8):2840–2844. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.8.2840-2844.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES