Exopolysaccharidic substance

It is believed that formation of exopolysaccharidic substances (EPS) could help the fragile bacteria as a survival technique to protect themselves from external factors that could be life threatening to them [20] and, perhaps, increasing then-capacity to absorb more food by expanding their surface area through the EPS. The role of the EPS material in enhancing corrosion has been emphasised [38]. 

Microbial cells transported with the stream of fluid above the surface interact with conditioning films. Immediately after attachment, microorganisms initiate production of slimy adhesive substances, predominantly exopolysaccharides (EPS) that assist the formation of microcolonies and microbial films. EPS create bridges for microbial cells to the substratum and permit negatively charged bacteria to adhere to both negatively and positively charged surfaces. EPS may also control interfacial chemistry at the mineral/biofilm interface. 

Sutherland, I. W. (1999). Biofilm exopolysaccharides. In Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances. Characterization, Structure and Function, eds. Wingender, J., Neu, T. R. and Flemming, H.-C., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 73-92... 

Satpute SK, Banat IM, Dhakephalkar PK, Banpurkar AG, Chopade BA (2010) Biosurfactants, bioemulsifiers and exopolysaccharides from marine microorganisms. Biotechnol Adv 28 436-450 Sheng GP, Yu HQ, Yue ZB (2005) Production of extracellular polymeric substances from Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, in the presence of toxic substances. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 69 216-222 Singh R, Paul D, Jain RK (2006) Biofilms implications in bioremediation. Trends Microbiol 14 389-397... 

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