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Effect of cellulose crystallinity on bacterial cellulose assembly

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Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising biomaterial as well as a model system useful for investigating cellulose biosynthesis. BC produced under static cultivation condition is a hydrous pellicle consisting of an interconnected network of fibrils assembled in numerous dense layers. The mechanisms responsible for this layered BC assembly remain unknown. This study used calcofluor as a fluorescent marker to examine BC layer formation at the air/liquid interface. Layers are found to move downward into the media after formation while new layers continue to form at the air/liquid interface. Calcoflour is also known to reduce the crystallinity of cellulose, changing the mechanical properties of the formed BC microfibrils. Consecutive addition and accumulation of calcofluor in the culture medium is found to disrupt the layered assembly of BC. BC crystalllinity decreased by 22 % in the presence of 12 % calcofluor (v/v) in the medium as compared to BC produced without calcofluor. This result suggests that cellulose crystallinity and the mechanical properties which crystallinity provides to cellulose are major factors influencing the layered BC structure formed during biosynthesis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570967 and 31370978); the Guangdong Province Science and Technology Planning Project (2015A010105021); the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20140610152828698 and CXZZ20140417113430716); the Shenzhen Peacock Program (110811003586331).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Center for Human Tissue and Organs Degeneration and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Biomedical Materials, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China

      Changshun Ruan, Yongjun Zhu, Xin Zhou & Yang Hu

    2. Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79403, USA

      Noureddine Abidi & Yang Hu

    3. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

      Jeffrey M. Catchmark

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    1. Changshun Ruan
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    2. Yongjun Zhu
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    3. Xin Zhou
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    4. Noureddine Abidi
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    5. Yang Hu
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    6. Jeffrey M. Catchmark
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    Correspondence to Yang Hu or Jeffrey M. Catchmark.

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    Changshun Ruan and Yongjun Zhu have contributed equally to this work.

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    Cite this article

    Ruan, C., Zhu, Y., Zhou, X. et al. Effect of cellulose crystallinity on bacterial cellulose assembly. Cellulose 23, 3417–3427 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-016-1065-0

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