Leuconostoc mesenteriode

Leucrose, 6-0-(a-D-glucopyranosyl)-p-D-fructopyranose [7158-70-5], is synthesized from sucrose using a dextranase enzyme from Leuconostoc mesenteriodes and a small proportion of fructose (2%). Pfeifer Langen of Germany have developed a production process for leucrose that involves extraction of the enzyme, treatment with 65% aqueous solution of sucrose and fructose (1 2 wt/wt) at 25°C, separation of the product from fructose by ion-exchange column chromatography, and crystallization. The product has not yet been launched on the market as of this writing (1996). 

Salotra, P., D.K. Singh, K.P, Seal, N. Krishna, H. Jaffe, and R. Bhatnagar (1995). Expression of DnaK and GroEL homologs in Leuconostoc mesenteriodes in response to heat-shock, cold-shock or chemical stress. FEMS Microbiol. Lettr. 131 57-62. 

When experimenting with wine, the well-known Louis Pasteur discovered in 1861 that particular microorganisms, which he termed butyric vibrios , were able to live without air, and that they were involved in butyric fermentation. These studies marked the discovery of dextran, a polysaccharide made up of several glucose molecules, when the French botanist Van Tieghem identified the bacterium (Leuconostoc mesenteriodes) responsible for its formation in 1878. Soon after, A. J. Brown found that cellulose could also be produced by bacteria from acetic fermentation. Further research on microbiology took place, and the... 

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