Characterization of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by marine Micromonospora sp.

Omar Esteban Valencia Ledezma1

Abstract

The extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were extracted from Micromonospora sp. strains isolated of the Gulf of California. Different spectrophotometric, chromatographic and microscopic techniques were used to determine the composition of the EPS. The extraction methods employed are fast and simple and allowed an efficient extraction with a minimum degree of cell lysis. The Fourier Transformed Infrared (FT-IR) spectra showed coupling attributed to polysaccharides, proteins and lipids. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) reveals the presence of protons of anomeric carbons and protons of primary amine, aromatic-compounds, halides, aliphatic and sulfide. Mass Spectrometry (MS) we corroborate the composition of polysaccharide hydrolysates in EPS samples. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) revealed the presence of majority sugars as xylose, arabinose, mannose and melibiose, and the presence of oligosaccharides such as nystose. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed to observe the morphology of the EPS, the Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) showed the presence of elements such as carbon, calcium, potassium, sodium, sulphur and phosphorous.