A type of high molecular weight bioactive polymers called exopolysaccharides (EPS) are produced by thermophiles, the extremophilic microbes that thrive in acidic environmental conditions of hot springs with excessively warm temperatures. Over time, EPS became important as natural biotechnological additives because of their noncytotoxic, emulsifying, antioxidant, or immunostimulant activities. In this article, we unravelled a new EPS produced by Staphylococcus sp. BSP3 from an acidic (pH 6.03) San Pedro hot spring (38.1 °C) located in the central Andean mountains in Chile. Several physicochemical techniques were performed to characterize the EPS structure including Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), 1D Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was confirmed that the amorphous surface of the BSP3 EPS, composed of rough pillar-like nanostructures, is evenly distributed. The main EPS monosaccharide constituents were mannose (72%), glucose (24%) and galactose (4%). Also, it is a medium molecular weight (43.7 kDa) heteropolysaccharide. NMR spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of a [→ 6)-⍺-d-Manp-(1 → 6)-⍺-d-Manp-(1 →] backbone 2-O substituted with 1-⍺-d-Manp. A high thermal stability of EPS (287 °C) was confirmed by TGA analysis. Emulsification, antioxidant, flocculation, water-holding (WHC), and oil-holding (OHC) capacities are also studied for biotechnological industry applications. The results demonstrated that BSP3 EPS could be used as a biodegradable material for different purposes, like flocculation and natural additives in product formulation.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

---

智利温泉源葡萄球菌的特征。 BSP3产生胞外多糖作为生物添加剂

一种称为胞外多糖 (EPS) 的高分子量生物活性聚合物是由嗜热微生物产生的，这种极端微生物在温度过高的温泉酸性环境条件下繁衍生息。随着时间的推移，EPS 由于其无细胞毒性、乳化、抗氧化或免疫刺激活性而成为重要的天然生物技术添加剂。在本文中，我们揭示了由 葡萄球菌产生的新 EPS 。 BSP3 来自位于智利安第斯山脉中部的酸性 (pH 6.03) 圣佩德罗温泉 (38.1 °C)。采用多种物理化学技术来表征 EPS 结构，包括扫描电子显微镜 - 能量色散 X 射线光谱 (SEM-EDS)、原子力显微镜 (AFM)、高效液相色谱 (HPLC)、凝胶渗透色谱 (GPC)、傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR)、一维核磁共振 (NMR) 和热重分析 (TGA)。经证实，BSP3 EPS 的非晶表面由粗糙的柱状纳米结构组成，分布均匀。 EPS单糖的主要成分是甘露糖（72%）、葡萄糖（24%）和半乳糖（4%）。而且，它是一种中等分子量（43.7 kDa）的杂多糖。 NMR 光谱证明存在 [→ 6)-⍺- d -Man p -(1 → 6)-⍺- d -Man p -(1 →] 主链 2- O被 1-⍺- d -Man p取代. TGA 分析证实了 EPS 的高热稳定性 (287 °C)。乳化、抗氧化、絮凝、持水 (WHC) 和持油 (OHC) 能力也针对生物技术工业应用进行了研究。结果表明BSP3 EPS 可作为可生物降解材料用于不同用途，例如产品配方中的絮凝和天然添加剂。

图形概要