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چکیده
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Abstract Body: Alginates display exceptional physicochemical properties appropriate for numerous medical and industrial applications. However, if secreted by the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it is an important virulence factor, especially during chronic lung infection of cystic fibrosis patients. Alginate is synthesized by a multi-protein complex spanning the inner and outer membranes and periplasm. Components of this apparatus are encoded within the alginate biosynthesis gene cluster which also encodes an alginate degrading enzyme AlgL - the function of which has been highly controversial. Here, we showed that deletion of algL gene doubled alginate yield, while enhancing epimerization and impairing O-acetylation of the polymer, without affecting polymer length distribution. However, inactivation of algL during planktonic mode completely abolished alginate biosynthesis. Together with our findings from mutual stability and protein-protein interaction experiments, we propose that AlgL is likely to be a free periplasmic protein dispensable for alginate production during growth on solid medium.
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