Zymomonas mobilis exopolysaccharide structure and role in high ethanol tolerance

Bacterial cell surface exopolysaccharides (EPS) provide a protective barrier from the external milieu and participate in host-environment interactions. Zymomonas mobilis, an ethanologenic Gram negative bacterium, is used by the industry in bio-ethanol production process, due to its extraordinary resistance to a highly ethanolic environment. We found that Z. mobilis produces a mixture of two EPSs, an [α-(1→6)-D-Manp] mannose homopolymer and a galactose containing polysaccharide: [→2)-β-D-Galf-(1→3)-β-D-Galp-(1→]_n. A physico-chemical study, conducted with diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), allowed to demonstrate that, differently from the majority of polysaccharides, ethanol is a good solvent for the galactose containing EPS, revealing that its chemical structure is specifically connected with the Zymomonas mobilis high ethanol tolerance.