Bacterial EPS

Microbial extracelMar polymeric substances (EPSs) - ubiquitous features in aquatic environments - actively participate in binding dissolved overlying and pore-water metals in sediments. Organic sediment coatings in the form of bacterial EPS equivalent to about 0.5% orgaiuc matter can adsorb cadmium under estuarine conditions. 

Living biofilms are not a strict prerequisite for adhesion prevention. Excreted compounds such as EPS or biosurfactants alone are often inhibiting. Purified biosurfactants from Lactobacillus casei, L. fermentum, and L. acidophilus were able to reduce the number of pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis to biosurfactant-coated glass by up to 77 % compared to uncoated controls [20]. Based on the method used for extracting and purifying biosurfactants, one can assume that bacterial EPS were indeed these... 

TUNKUIANUKU s, MKKELSEN H V, OLAFSEN J A (1997), A heterogeneons siahc acidbinding lectin with affinity for bacterial EPS from horse mnssel (Modiolus modiolus) hemolymph. Comp Biochem Physiol, 117B, 273-286. 

---