Abstract
KOEPSELL et al. 1 have shown recently that oligosaccharides are formed when the dextransucrase of Leuconostoc mesenteroides (NRRL B-512) acts on sucrose in the presence of certain simple sugars, which serve as chain-initiators. We have observed a similar phenomenon with the dextransucrase and with growing cultures of Betacoccus arabinosaceous (Birmingham strain). When grown on a medium containing sucrose (10 per cent), yeast extract and inorganic salts, this organism produces a dextran in which the principal glucosidic linkages are α-1:6 and the branch points involve positions 1 and 32. Fructose, traces of glucose and a ketose-containing disaccharide can be detected in the medium. The degree of branching in the polysaccharide is dependent, inter alia, on the magnesium content of the medium; dextran samples produced from magnesium-rich and magnesium-deficient media have been proved to have average chain-lengths of 6–7 and 40–50 anhydroglucose units, respectively3.
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Koepsell, H. J., Tsuchiya, H. M., Hellmann, N. N., Kazenko, A., Hoffmann, C. A., Sharpe, E. S., and Jackson, R. W., J. Biol. Chem., 200, 793 (1953).
Stacey, M., and Swift, G., J. Chem. Soc., 1555 (1948). Barker, S. A., Bourne, E. J., Bruce, G. T., Neely, W. B., and Stacey, M., J. Chem. Soc., 2395 (1954).
Barker, S. A., Bourne, E. J., James, A. E., Neely, W. B., and Stacey, M., J. Chem. Soc. (in the press).
Whistler, R. L., and Durso, D. F., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 72, 677 (1950).
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BAILEY, R., BARKER, S., BOURNE, E. et al. Synthesis of Oligosaccharides by Growing Cultures of Betacoccus arabinosaceous . Nature 175, 635 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/175635a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/175635a0
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