Exploiting the commons: cyclic diguanylate regulation of bacterial exopolysaccharide production.

Exploiting the commons: cyclic diguanylate regulation of bacterial exopolysaccharide production. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2016 Jan 13;30:36-43 Authors: Pérez-Mendoza D, Sanjuán J Abstract Nowadays, there is increasing interest for bacterial polysaccharides in a wide variety of industrial sectors. This is due to their chemical and reological properties, and also the possibility to be obtained by fermentation processes. Biosynthesis of a growing number of exopolysaccharides (EPS) has been reported to be regulated by the ubiquitous second messenger c-di-GMP in a limited number of bacterial species. Since most bacteria are yet unexplored, it is likely that an unsuspected number and variety of EPS structures activated by c-di-GMP await to be uncovered. In the search of new EPS, manipulation of bacterial c-di-GMP metabolism can be combined with high throughput approaches for screening of large collections of bacteria. In addition, c-di-GMP activation of EPS production and promotion of cell aggregation may have direct applications in environmental industries related with biofuel production or wastewater treatments. PMID: 26773798 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Microbiol Source Type: research