Influence of different carbon sources on bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus strain ATCC 53524.

AIMS: To determine the effect of carbon sources on cellulose produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinus strain ATCC 53524, and to characterize the purity and structural features of the cellulose produced. METHODS AND RESULTS: Modified Hestrin Schramm medium containing the carbon sources mannitol, glucose, glycerol, fructose, sucrose or galactose were inoculated with Ga. xylinus strain ATCC 53524. Plate counts indicated that all carbon sources supported growth of the strain. Sucrose and glycerol gave the highest cellulose yields of 3.83 and 3.75 g l(-1) respectively after 96 h fermentation, primarily due to a surge in cellulose production in the last 12 h. Mannitol, fructose or glucose resulted in consistent rates of cellulose production and yields of >2.5 g l(-1). Solid state (13)C CP/MAS NMR revealed that irrespective of the carbon source, the cellulose produced by ATCC 53524 was pure and highly crystalline. Scanning electron micrographs illustrated the densely packed network of cellulose fibres within the pellicles and that the different carbon sources did not markedly alter the micro-architecture of the resulting cellulose pellicles. CONCLUSIONS: The production rate of bacterial cellulose by Ga. xylinus (ATCC 53524) was influenced by different carbon sources, but the product formed was indistinguishable in molecular and microscopic features. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our studies for the first time examined the influence of different carbon sources on the rate of cellulose production by Ga. xylinus ATCC 53524, and the molecular and microscopic features of the cellulose produced.

Ligand-field analysis of an Er(III) complex with a heptadentate tripodal N4O3 ligand.

Polarized absorption and emission spectra of trigonal single crystals of an Er(III) complex coordinated to a heptadentate tripodal ligand are reported at temperatures between 8 and 298 K. The assigned energy levels below the onset of ligand absorption (< 25 000 cm(-1)) are fitted to a parametrized electronic Hamiltonian. The C(3) site symmetry of the Er(III) ion requires eight parameters for a full description of the ligand field within a one-electron operator description. This compound shows unusually large splittings of the multiplets, and the fitted parameters imply that this heptadentate ligand imparts the largest ligand field reported for an Er(III) complex. The ligand field was also interpreted within the angular overlap model (AOM). We derive the AOM matrix to include both sigma and anisotropic pi bonding and show that a useful description of the C(3) ligand field can be made using only five parameters. The success of the AOM description is encouraging for applications on isomorphous complexes within the lanthanide series and in describing the ligand field of low-symmetry complexes with less parameters than in the usual spherical harmonic expansion.