Polysaccharides Produced by Cystobactev, Archangium, Sorangium and Stigmatella Species

Exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides were prepared from a number of myxobacterial strains representing the more complex types. The exopolysaccharides were isolated from fruiting bodies and from liquid and solid cultures. The polysaccharides secreted by the bacillary forms in solid or liquid media closely resembled the material obtained from fruiting bodies, the monosaccharides present being in the same approximate molar ratios. Many of the sugars present in the exopolysaccharides were also detected in the lipopoly-saccharides, suggesting an economic use of sugar nucleotide synthetic systems. Several, but not all, lipopolysaccharides contained material resembling 3-O-methylxylose in its chromatographic mobility. In addition, a faster-moving spot, as yet unidentified, was noted in some hydrolysates. The commonest monosaccharide components of the lipo-polysaccharide were rhamnose, mannose, glucose and galactose. Small quantities of amino sugars, particularly glucosamine and galactosamine, were also detected.