Phylogenetic analysis and characterization of three Komagataeibacter strains (23736, Hum-1, and SC-3B)

Bacterial cellulose is a crystalline biopolymer with mechanical properties that make it useful in a number of commercial, medical, and industrial applications. However, expensive media and sterile growing conditions limit production and use in these industries, and so understanding which organisms are the most efficient producers of cellulose is commercially important. The organism Komagataeibacter hansenii (formerly Gluconacetobacter xylinus) is a particularly efficient producer of BC, but some strains within this species are more productive than others. The purpose of this study was to introduce three additional cellulose producers, Komagataeibacter hansenii strains ATCC 23726, Hum-1, and SC-3B. The strains and their resulting cellulose were morphologically characterized using light microscopy, TEM, dry and wet weights, and time-lapse microscopy, and a phylogenetic analysis was employed to determine how these three new strains are related to other cellulose producers. Results indicate that the three strains are very closely related, but that SC-3B cells are much larger and produce larger ribbons of cellulose than the other two strains. Wider cellulose ribbons are very likely the result of a higher number of cellulose producing enzymatic subunits in the terminal complex. The terminal complex of longer cells is itself longer, and therefore able to produce wider ribbons of cellulose.