Role of Plasmid in Production of Acetobacter Xylinum Biofilms

Acetobacter xylinum has the ability to produce cellulotic biofilms. Bacterial cellulose is expected to be used in many industrial or biomedical materials for its unique characteristics. A. xylinum contains a complex system of plasmid DNA molecules. A 44 kilobases (kb) plasmid was isolated in wild type of A. xylinum. To improve the cellulose producing ability of A. xylinum, role of the plasmid in production of cellulose was studied. The comparisons between wild type and cured cells of A. xylinum showed that there is considerably difference in cellulose production. In order to study the relationship between plasmid and the rate of cellulose production, bacteria were screened for plasmid profile by a modified method for preparation of plasmid. This method yields high levels of pure plasmid DNA that can be used for common molecular techniques, such as digestion and transformation, with high efficiency.