Characterization of microbial cellulose from a high-producing mutagenized Acetobacter pasteurianus strain

A wild-type Acetobacter pasteurianus was subjected to chemical mutagenesis for the induction and isolation of a cellulose overproducing strain. A mutagenized strain capable of synthesizing double amounts of cellulose compared to the wild type was obtained. Cellulose, both from the wild-type and the mutagenized strain was extracted and purified for chemical characterization and investigation of its physico-chemical properties. The comparison of the two microbial polysaccharides shows that the putative mutation of A. pasteurianus strain had no effect on some cellulose features such as chemical structure, polymorphic form, crystallinity.