Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1965 May 1;25(2):191–207. doi: 10.1083/jcb.25.2.191

SYNTHESIS OF CELLULOSE BY ACETOBACTER XYLINUM

VIII. On the Formation and Orientation of Bacterial Cellulose Fibrils in the Presence of Acidic Polysaccharides

G Ben-Hayyim 1, I Ohad 1
PMCID: PMC2106645  PMID: 19866663

Abstract

The transfer of the glucosyl moiety from uridine diphosphate glucose in the presence of Acetobacter xylinum cell-free extracts led to the formation of a mixture of alkali-soluble and -insoluble cellodextrins. Typical cellulose fibrils could not be detected by electron microscopy in this product. Immediately after release into the medium, cellulose formed by whole cells is in a "prefibrous" form which passes through Millipore filters of 0.45 and 0.8 µ pore diameter. Non-filtrable fibrils arise from this material probably by a process of crystallization involving no extracellular enzymes. Fibrils formed in shaken cell suspensions intertwine and form aggregates visible to the naked eye. In quiet suspensions pellicles are formed which float on the surface. Soluble Na-carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is incorporated into cellulose fibrils formed in its presence, probably by a process of co-crystallization. Aggregation of fibrils containing CMC is delayed because of electrostatic repulsion between carboxylic groups. The aggregation time depends on the amount of CMC incorporated, its degree of substitution, the pH of the medium, and the ionic strength. The amount of CMC incorporated depends on the relative concentration CMC/cellulose and on the similarity of the CMC and the cellulose molecules i.e. in molecular weight and the number of carboxyl substitutions. Cellulose pellicles formed in the presence of CMC by unshaken cell suspensions consist of crossed, superimposed layers of parallel oriented cellulose fibrils. The same phenomenon is observed when phosphomannan, but not levan, is substituted for CMC. The biogenesis of oriented cellulose fibrils is envisaged as a process comprising the following steps: polymerization of the monomeric precursor, diffusion of the molecule to crystallization sites, crystallization, and orientation. It is proposed that charged polysaccharides play a role similar to that of CMC in affecting the orientation of cellulose fibrils in the plant cell wall.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.4 MB).

Selected References

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

  1. COLVIN J. R., BEER M. The formation of cellulose microfibrils in suspensions of Acetobacter xylinum. Can J Microbiol. 1960 Dec;6:631–637. doi: 10.1139/m60-075. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. GLASER L. The synthesis of cellulose in cell-free extracts of Acetobacter xylinum. J Biol Chem. 1958 Jun;232(2):627–636. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. GREEN P. B., CHEN J. C. Concerning the role of wall stresses in the elongation of the Nitella cell. Z Wiss Mikrosk. 1960 Nov;64:482–488. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HALL D. A., HAPPEY F., LLOYD P. F., SAXL H. Oriented cellulose as a component of mammalian tissue. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1960 Mar 1;151:497–516. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1960.0013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. HESTRIN S., SCHRAMM M. Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. II. Preparation of freeze-dried cells capable of polymerizing glucose to cellulose. Biochem J. 1954 Oct;58(2):345–352. doi: 10.1042/bj0580345. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. KELLENBERGER E., ARBER W. Electron microscopical studies of phage multiplication. I. A method for quantitative analysis of particle suspensions. Virology. 1957 Apr;3(2):245–255. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(57)90091-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KHAN A. W., COLVIN J. R. Synthesis of bacterial cellulose from labeled precursor. Science. 1961 Jun 23;133(3469):2014–2015. doi: 10.1126/science.133.3469.2014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MILLMAN B., COLVIN J. R. The formation of cellulose microfibrils by Acetobacter xylinum in agar surfaces. Can J Microbiol. 1961 Jun;7:383–387. doi: 10.1139/m61-046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. MUNCH-PETERSEN A., KALCKAR H. M., CUTOLO E., SMITH E. E. Uridyl transferases and the formation of uridine triphosphate; enzymic production of uridine triphosphate: uridine diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorolysis. Nature. 1953 Dec 5;172(4388):1036–1037. doi: 10.1038/1721036a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. OHAD I., DANON D. ON THE DIMENSIONS OF CELLULOSE MICROFIBRILS. J Cell Biol. 1964 Jul;22:302–305. doi: 10.1083/jcb.22.1.302. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. OHAD I., DANON I. O., HESTRIN S. Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. V. Ultrastructure of polymer. J Cell Biol. 1962 Jan;12:31–46. doi: 10.1083/jcb.12.1.31. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SCHRAMM M., GROMET Z., HESTRIN S. Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter Xylinum. 3. Substrates and inhibitors. Biochem J. 1957 Dec;67(4):669–679. doi: 10.1042/bj0670669. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. SCHRAMM M., HESTRIN S. Factors affecting production of cellulose at the air/liquid interface of a culture of Acetobacter xylinum. J Gen Microbiol. 1954 Aug;11(1):123–129. doi: 10.1099/00221287-11-1-123. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. SCHRAMM M., HESTRIN S. Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. I. Micromethod for the determination of celluloses. Biochem J. 1954 Jan;56(1):163–166. doi: 10.1042/bj0560163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SETTERFIELD G., BAYLEY S. T. Deposition of wall material in thickened primary walls of elongating plant cells. Exp Cell Res. 1958 Jun;14(3):622–625. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(58)90169-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES