Morphological studies on the polysaccharide extracted from biofilm produced by Burkholderia multivorans strain C1576

The polysaccharide extracted from the biofilm produced by Burkholderia multivorans C1576 (Epol C1576) contains Rha residues with 25% O-methyl substitution, thus rendering the polymer backbone less polar than other polysaccharides. It was already demonstrated that Rha makes the polysaccharide able to interact with hydrophobic molecules as well as to exhibit self-aggregation tendency. These two properties might have a particular relevance for the biofilm forming process and for the matrix maintenance.