Reticulated cellulose and methods and microorganisms for the production thereof

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention includes a reticulated bacterial cellulose product having novel properties.
This reticulated bacterial cellulose product is characterized by a microscopic structure unlike that of bacterial cellulose produced by cellulose-producing microorganisms under static culture conditions.
The bacterial cellulose produced under known static culture conditions is characterized by a disorganized layered structure consisting of overlaying and intertwisted discrete cellulose strands or fibrils.
This disorganized layered structure reflects the growth pattern of cellulose-producing microorganisms which is typified by the microorganism Acetobacter.
In static cultures, Acetobacter typically grows at the interface of the surface of the liquid medium and air.
As the cells grow, cellulose fibers are continuously elaborated and accumulated, sinking deeper into the medium.
The cellulose pellicle thus formed is comprised of a mass of continuous layered cellulose fibers which support the growing population of Acetobacter cells at the air medium interface.
The macroscopic and microscopic structures of the cellulose produced in accordance with the agitated culture conditions of the invention differ from that made pursuant to the known static culture conditions.
Macroscopically, the cellulose of the invention forms in the culture as pellets having diameters in the range of from approximately 0.
05 mm to approximately 10.
0 mm rather than as a continuous pellicle at the air medium interface.
This pellet form remains after base extraction to recover the cellulose product and is believed to influence the physical properties of the final cellulose product.
Microscopically (by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), the cellulose product according to the instant invention is characterized by a three dimensional reticular structure.
This structure is characterized by frequently thickened strands of cellulose that interconnect forming a grid-like pattern extending in three dimensions.
The bacterial cellulose produced in static cultures is characterized by overlapping adjacent strands of cellulose that are oriented predominantly with the long axis of the strand in parallel but disorganized planes