Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:12:38.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cytochemical observations on the extracellular carbohydrate produced by Streptococcus cremoris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

B. E. Brooker
Affiliation:
National Institute for Research in Dairying, Shinfield, Reading, RG2 9AT

Summary

Electron microscopy showed that a varying proportion of cells of Streptococcus cremoris NCDO 924 grown in autoclaved skim-milk possessed a layer of extracellular material attached to the cell wall. Occasional filamentous extensions of this layer made contact with neighbouring casein micelles. The same surfacestaining material persisted during the production of cheese-curd, but after maximum scald it was predominantly filamentous in appearance. These filaments made frequent contact with the adjacent curd matrix and with milk-fat globules. Str. cremoris NCDO 1986 produced similar surface material when in curd, but not when grown in skim-milk. In all situations, the extracellular material stained with colloidal iron hydroxide, ruthenium red and periodic acid–thiosemicarbazide–silver proteinate, indicating that it was largely composed of an acidic carbohydrate. It is suggested that this carbohydrate facilitates the adhesion of starter bacteria to the cheese-curd matrix and that during the initial stages of syneresis this serves to prevent their expulsion from the curd with the whey.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baird, J. K., Longyear, V. M. C. & Ellwood, D. C. (1973). Microbios 8, 143.Google Scholar
Benedetti, E. L. & Emmelot, P. (1967). Journal of Cell Science 2, 499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooker, B. E. & Fuller, R. (1975). Journal of Ultrastructure Research 52, 21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, A. S. (1974). Histochemistry 42, 141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Critchley, P., Wood, J., Saxton, C. & Leach, S. (1967). Caries Research 1, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duguid, J. P. & Wilkinson, J. F. (1953). Journal of General Microbiology 9, 174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellen, R. P. & Gibbons, R. J. (1972). Infection and Immunity 5, 826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enders, J. F., Shaffer, M. F. & Wu, C. J. (1936). Journal of Experimental Medicine 64, 307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, M. & Floodgate, G. D. (1973). Journal of General Microbiology 74, 325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbons, R. J. & Nygaard, M. (1968). Archives of Oral Biology 13, 1249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guggenheim, B. (1970). International Dental Journal 20, 657.Google Scholar
Guggenheim, B. & Schroeder, H. E. (1967). Helvetica Odontologica Acta 11, 131.Google Scholar
Higgins, M. L. & Shockman, G. D. (1970). Journal of Bacteriology 101, 643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimber, A. M., Brooker, B. E., Hobbs, D. G. & Prentice, J. H. (1974). Journal of Dairy Research 41, 389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasse, B. (1965). Archives of Oral Biology 10, 223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, K. C. (1972). Proceedings 3rd International Congress on Marine Corrosion and Fouling, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A., p. 625.Google Scholar
Marshall, K. C. & Cruickshank, R. H. (1973). Archiv für Mihrobiologie 91, 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, K. C., Stout, R. & Mitchell, R. (1971). Journal of General Microbiology 68, 337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxted, W. R. (1952). Nature 170, 1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mowry, R. W. (1963). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 106, 402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pate, J. L. & Ordal, E. J. (1967). Journal of Cell Biology 35, 37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, H., Irvin, R., Costerton, J. W. & Cheng, K. J. (1975). Journal of Bacteriology 122, 278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rambourg, A. (1971). International Review of Cytology 31, 57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, J., Hsu, K. C. & Gotschlich, E. C. (1969). Journal of Experimental Medicine 130, 1063.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiéry, J. P. (1967). Journal de Microscopic 6, 987.Google Scholar
Wetzel, M. G., Wetzel, B. K. & Spicer, S. S. (1966). Journal of Cell Biology 30, 299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, J. F. (1958). Bacteriological Reviews 22, 46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar