THE SYNTHESIS OF MUCINOUS POLYSACCHARIDES FROM SUCROSE BY ORAL BACTERIA

¹ Departments of Bacteriology and Biochemistry, University of Oregon Dental School, Portland, Ore.

Of the complex oral aerobic flora only 2 types of bacteria were shown to be capable of synthesizing mucinous polysaccharides from sucrose; Str. salivarius, which formed levan, and gram-negative diplococci, which produced amylopectin. Greatly increased yields of levan were obtained by periodic neutralization of the sucrose broth cultures. Under conditions of mass bacteria and small amounts of substrate, synthesis of both levan and amylopectin was accomplished within a matter of minutes. Because of the water-soluble nature of the mucinous polysaccharides, their participation in the formation of dental mucinous placques was believed unlikely.