Cell surface polysaccharides are important for effective colonization, adherence and prevention of desiccation. Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 has a mini-capsule and releases about 50 % of its surface polysaccharides into the medium. These exo-polysaccharides form a complex with proteins and have emulsifying activities. This feature provides a nutritional advantage to Acinetobacter because it promotes the uptake of hydrophobic compounds.

We discovered, between two transposase fragments (ACIAD0057 and ACIAD0134), a large region containing genes that encode functions providing activated sugars, and other compounds involved in the biosynthesis of capsular or exo-polysaccharides.

Explore the Polysaccharide region with the MaGe system.