9 Exopolysaccharide production of Prevotella nigrescens in response to the stress of animal passage

Abstract

We attempted to establish a method of animal passage for keeping the exopolysaccharide (EPS) production of Prevotella nigrescens strain 22 at high levels, and examined the protein expression patterns before and after animal passage by 2-D electrophoresis. The EPS production of strain 22 increased and the mesh-like structures around the cells became denser after animal passage. N-terminal sequence analysis of protein revealed that the expression of a few heat shock protein homologs were up-regulated in response to the stress of animal passage, suggesting the relation between a regulatory pathway of EPS production in Prevotella nigrescens with a heat shock response.