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Extracellular polysaccharides of smooth and rough variants of Streptococcus salivarius
Author(s) -
KELSTRUP JENS
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1981.tb01696.x
Subject(s) - streptococcus salivarius , extracellular polysaccharide , extracellular , streptococcus , polysaccharide , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , biology , genetics , bacteria , biochemistry
– Some, but not all strains of Streptococcus salivarius were demonstrated to occur in smooth (S) and rough (R) variants, growing in distinctly different colonies on sucrose‐containing agar plates. Sucrosederived extracellular polysaccharides (EP) of NCTC 8666, ATCC9759S and R, ATCC13419S and R, IAS And R, and Tove S and R were isolated, puridied, and chemically studied. Extracellular enzymes of R variants yielded more water‐insoluble than soluble material, while the opposite was true for 8 variants. The insoluble material consisted mainly of glucan, the soluble mainly of levan. Enzymatic hydrolysis suggested a predominance of α‐1, 3linkages in the water‐insoluble glucan. Cell‐associated enzymes gave rise to cell‐associated and ‐free EP. The cell‐associated EP of sS variants was insoluble, while that of R variants contained water‐insoluble glucan and water‐soluble fructan. Cells coated with cell‐associated EP flocculated due to interaction of the Ep, mainly by hydrogen bonding, in part by divalent cation bridging. The sucrose‐derived EP gave rise to plaque deposit formation in sucrose broth cultures, S variant deposits being thin and firmly adherent to glass, R variant deposits being thick, rough, coherent, but only weakly adherent. The variant types were not altered by the curing agents ethidium bromide and acridine orange.