Elevated curdlan production by a mutant of Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749

A mutant strain of the curdlan-producing bacterium Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749, isolated by ethylmethane sulfonate mutagenesis and resistance to ampicillin, was capable of elevated curdlan synthesis. Using 2.5% corn syrup, glucose or maltose as a carbon source, the mutant strain was shown to produce a 1.5-fold, 1.5-fold or 1.5-fold higher level of curdlan, respectively, than its parent strain after 120 h of growth. The mutant strain produced higher curdlan levels after 96 or 120 h of growth on glucose or maltose as a carbon source than it did on corn syrup. Biomass production by the mutant strain grown on the carbon sources studied was slightly elevated compared to its parent strain. It was concluded that the elevated curdlan production observed for the mutant strain grown on corn syrup or glucose was not due to an increase in biomass production.