Lipid-linked Intermediates and the Synthesis of Acetan in Acetobacter xylinum

Abstract

Several strains of Acetobacter xylinum were screened for in vivo cellulose and acetan production, and for in vitro synthesis of a prenyl-diphosphate-hexasaccharide, using UDP-Glc, UDP-GlcA and GDP-Man as sugar donors. The lipid-bound saccharide was synthesized only by acetan-producing strains. Previous work has shown that the in vitro-synthesized lipid-linked saccharides have the same structure as the acetan repeating unit. The present results strongly suggest a precursor-product relationship. The strains that produced acetan lost their ability to do so by ageing of the culture.