Process for acetylating seaweed alginate with pseudomonas syringae subsp. phaseoliocola

Abstract

A method of biosynthetically acetylating seaweed alginates by modification with certain Pseudomonas syringae, such as P. syringae subsp. phaseolicola ATCC 19304, is disclosed. Acetylation occurs almost entirely in the 0-2 and 0.3 positions of the mannuronic acid residues. The acetylated alginates have several desirable properties. For example, acetylation increases the polymers' viscosity; it increases the flexibility of their gels; and it can produce a strong, thermoreversible-gel network. Acetylation increases the viscosity of the polymer, decreases ion-binding capacity, and decreases the ability to gel with calcium. The degree of acetylation can be controlled by controlling the exposure time, which allows the properties of the resulting polymer to be custom-made.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.