Bacterium xylinum, cellulose formation

In 1886, Brown11 discovered an organism which formed extremely tough membranes when cultivated m suitable nutrient solutions containing carbohydrates such as D-fructose, D-mannitol or D-glucose ethanol, sucrose or starch did not support membrane formation by this organism which Brown called Bacterium xylinum ) (Acetobacter xylinum). The membranes were readily soluble in cuprammonium hydroxide solution and yielded a dextrorotatory sugar upon acid hydrolysis. These properties and the results of combustion analysis led him to believe that the membrane was cellulose. 

The formation of crystalline microfibrils has been elucidated using the bacterium Acefol acter xylinum as cellulose producing model. It appears that individual cellulose chains are extruded at multiple cellulose-synthesizing sites located in the cytoplasmatic membrane of the organism. Cellulose synthesis produces 12 to 16 cellulose chains into the surrounding medium... 

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