A strain, 3EQS1, was isolated from a salt sample taken from Lake Qarun (Fayoum Province, Egypt). On the basis of physiological, biochemical, and phylogenetic analyses, the strain was classified as Chromohalobacter salexigens. By 72 h of growth at 25 °C, strain 3EQS1 produced large amounts (15.1 g L-1) of exopolysaccharide (EPS) in a liquid mineral medium (initial pH 8.0) containing 10% sucrose and 10% NaCl. The EPS was precipitated from the cell-free culture medium with chilled ethanol and was purified by gel-permeation and anion-exchange chromatography. The molecular mass of the EPS was 0.9 × 106 Da. Chemical analyses, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that the EPS was a linear β-D-(2→6)-linked fructan (levan). In aqueous solution, the EPS tended to form supramolecular aggregates with a critical aggregation concentration of 240 µg mL-1. The EPS had high emulsifying activity (E24, %) against kerosene (31.2 ± 0.4%), sunflower oil (76.9 ± 1.3%), and crude oil (98.9 ± 0.8%), and it also had surfactant properties. A 0.1% (w/v) aqueous EPS solution reduced the surface tension of water by 11.9%. The levan of C. salexigens 3EQS1 may be useful in various biotechnological processes.

extracellular polysaccharide, levan, biosurfactant, Chromohalobacter salexigens, emulsifying activity

13C NMR data:
Linkage	Residue	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	C6
	bDFruf	61.2	105.3	77.6	76.4	81.4	64.5


1H NMR data:
Linkage	Residue	H1	H2	H3	H4	H5	H6
	bDFruf	3.67-3.76	-	4.18	4.09	3.94	3.57-3.89


1H/13C HSQC data:
Linkage	Residue	C1/H1	C2/H2	C3/H3	C4/H4	C5/H5	C6/H6
	bDFruf	61.2/3.67-3.76		77.6/4.18	76.4/4.09	81.4/3.94	64.5/3.57-3.89

There is only one chemically distinct structure:

SVGMWSMILES3D molIonize

 

[*]OC[C@H]1O[C@]([*])(CO)[C@@H](O)[C@@H]1O

162.141 g/mol (C₆H₁₀R₂O₅, R = next and previous repeats, not counted in mol weight)