Translucent colony form of the gram-negative, levan-producing bacterium, Aerobacter levanicum

A spontaneously occurring variation of Aerobacter levanicum, affecting the appearance of colonies on sucrose agar (opaque to translucent colony form), has been observed and studied. This appears to be a mutation that is accompanied by a significant increase in levansucrase (EC 2.4.1.10) activity, in levan production, and by a change in some of the properties of levansucrase.