Isolation and characterisation of bacterial cellulose producing bacteria from different sources

Bacterial cellulose, as an alternative to plant based cellulose, is a polymer which is still trying to be improved while it has many applications including medical practices foremost. In this study, different varieties of vinegar has been used to isolate acetic acid bacteria that produces cellulose and three highest producers of cellulose have been chosen. These three isolates have been isolated from apple and grape mixed vinegar. Identification of these organisms were carried out both conventional methods and 16S rDNA gene sequencing analyses. İsolates H4 (Komagataeibacter intermedius), HM3 (Komagataeibacter xylinus) and M2 (Komagataeibacter xylinus) were used to produce bacterial celluose in both static and shaken culture. Spesific product yield coefficent and water holding capacity of cellulose samples was examined. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) photographs were obtained. In addition, the cellulose samples produced in the static culture were characterized by Elemental Analysis, CP/MAS 13C solid NMR, TGA, FT-IR and XRD analyses. All of the cellulose samples were found to be convenient to use. Bacterial cellulose production by Komagataeibacter intermedius and characterisation of the cellulose is the first report of Turkey.