A moderately halophilic bacterium, Halomonas marinaHMA 103 (MTCC 8968) accumulating intracellular polyesters also producedsignificant amount of exopolysaccharides (EPS) under batch-culture. Productionof EPS by the bacterium was more or less parallel with the growth in modifiedbasal synthetic medium. During growth, it produced 0.46 g/L of EPS after 50 hof incubation and was accompanied by the complete utilization of glucose fromthe medium. EPS production was maximum in 2% (w/v) glucose followed by sucroseand maltose and was positively influenced by yeast extract, beef extract andpeptone. Optimum concentrations of sulfate and phosphate for EPS productionwere 2.4% (w/v) and 0.03% (w/v) respectively. High concentration (10% w/v) ofNaCl stimulated both growth and EPS production by H. marina HMA 103.Characteristically, this EPS is a heteropolymer of glucose and mannose and the FourierTransform Infrared (FTIR) spectrum showed distinct absorption peaks at 3424.2,1638.7, 1122.9 and 622.3 cm-1 indicating the presence of freehydroxyl, phenyl or carbonyl groups of carbohydrate. Further, the detailedphysico-chemical analysis will indicate the significance and potentialimportance of this EPS in biotechnology.
