The distribution of β-1, 4'-xylan-decomposing bacteria in the coastal waters was investigated in the previous paper
1), and many strains were isolated from the sea water, marine sediments and seaweeds.
The present study was undertaken to find the degree of xylan-decomposing activity of these bacteria.
The results obtained are shown in Tables 2, 3 and Figures 1-5, and are summarized as follows:
1. The degree of xylan-decomposing activity of the bacteria was most usefully found, by determining P. S. value with the following method.
Each strain was introduced in 10ml of the liquid medium (refined β-1, 4'-xylan 10g, peptone 5g, yeast extract 1g, FePO
4•4H
2O 0.1g, NaCl 30g, distilled water 1l, pH adjusted to 7.5), and incubated statically at 25°C. After standing for a definite time, 1ml of the culture fluid was taken which was then subjected to ten times dilution with distilled water. To 1ml of the diluted fluid, 4ml of 85 percent ethanol was added, and the precipitate formed, viz., undecomposed xylan was removed, and then the total content of mono and oligo saccharides remained in the clear filtrate of the enzymatic hydrolyzates of xylan, was determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid method
7). The value expressed in optical density, is tentatively designated as P. S. value, which may be indicative of the degree of xylan-decomposition in the liquid culture. On the basis of the highest value obtained during the 7 days, the xylan-decomposing activity of the bacteria was divided into six grades.
2. As to the xylan-decomposing activity, 74 percent of 412 strains examined by the above-mentioned method, ranked with higher three grades, and there were many strains having the higher activity, especially in those isolated from the seaweeds.
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