Extracellular polymer substances

The invaluable comments of the referees are highly acknowledged in improving the quality of this contribution and for encouraging the authors to continue a more detailed experimental study, which will clarify the role of extracellular polymer substances in the mechanism of metal uptake by activated sludge process. 

D.T. Sponza, Investigation of extracellular polymer substances (EPS) and physicochemical properties of different activated sludge floes under steady-state conditions, Enzyme Microb. Technol. 32 (2003) 375-385. 

Wingender, J., Neu, T. and Flemming, H.-C., 1999a. What are bacterial extracellular polymer substances In J. Wingender, T. Neu, and H.-C. Flemming, (eds.), Microbial extracellular polymer substances, Heidelberg, Berlin, Springer, pp. 1-19. 

Tsuneda S, Aikawa H, Hayashi H, Yuasa A, Hirata A (2003) Extracellular polymeic substances responsible for bacterial adhesion onto solid surface. EEMS Microbiol Lett 223 287—292... 

The role of extracellular polymer substances (EPS) in the initial adhesion of P. aeruginosa to substrata differing according to hydrophobicity was investigated. XPS indicated that the bacterial footprints consisted of uronic acids, the prevalence of which increased with the nnmber of deposition and detachment cycles. " ... 

The cake resistance in MBR systems is the main contributor of the total resistance it is composed of nficroorganisms, organic and inorganic substances, including extracellular polymers (Lee, 2001). 

Extracellular polymeric substances are metabolic products. Their production by selected microorganisms was first reported in the 1880s (Whitfield 1988). Extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) accumulate on the microbial cell surface and provide protection to the cells by stabilizing membrane structure against the harsh external environment. EPSs also serve as carbon and energy reserves. EPSs are a heterogeneous matrix of polymers... 

Mishra A, Kavita K, Jha B (2011) Characterization of extracellular polymeric substances produced by micro-algae Dunaliella salina. Carbohydr Polym... 

The production of humic substances by microorganisms is an extracellular process, because the enzymes are secreted into the external solution that contains the phenolic compounds derived from lignin and tannic acid degradation and microbial and plant metabolites. These phenolic compounds can then be enzymatically oxidized to quinones, which can undergo further polymerization or polycondensation reactions with other biomolecules (e.g., amino acids) to form humic polymers (Stevenson, 1994 Bollag et al., 1998 Burton, 2003). 

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