Extracellular polysaccharides in twenty Chlamydomonas strains of the Mosonmagyaróvár Algal Culture Collection

Abstract

Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) are high-molecular-weight polymers of carbohydrates. Many microorganisms secrete extracellular polymeric substances during their life-cycle. Some species of the genus Chlamydomonas EHRENBERG nom. cons. (1833) and other green algae secrete EPS under specific conditions. For the first time, strains of the Mosonmagyaróvár Algal Culture Collection (MACC) were investigated for EPS production. In this study twenty Chlamydomonas strains were analyzed using the Phenol-Sulfuric Acid method (DuBois et al. 1956). Three strains produced more than 2 g/L and seven strains more than 1 g/L soluble EPS (sEPS). Strain MACC-398 was the highest sEPS producer (2763 mg/L) after 30 days of incubation. This study highlighted promising strains for application in soil conditioning.