102. Brown, Jr. R. M. 1985. The microbial
synthesis of cellulose. IN: BIOEXPO85: 325-335. Published
by Kahners Exposition Group, Boston, Massachusetts.
102. Introduction
The industrial utilization of cellulose
has been limited to the products of multicellular plants. Prominent
among these are forest trees, cotton, flax, etc. The commercial
exploitation of cellulose synthesized by bacteria is almost non-existent;
however, a promising and bright future in biotechnology for the
manufacture of microbial cellulose is possible. This presentation
will describe how cellulose microfibrils are synthesized by several
bacteria, including Acetobacter, Rhizobium, Agrobacterium,
and Alcaligenes. Methods for study of the kinetics of
cellulose synthesis as well as the alteration of the physical
properties of cellulose during synthesis will be presented. The
presentation will conclude with a discussion of the problems to
be encountered for industrial production of microbial cellulose,
including searches for broader bases of substrates, and the future
of molecular genetics in increasing the efficiency of microbial
cellulose production. The future opportunities for microbial
cellulose are indeed great, and some of these avenues will be
explored in this presentation.