[An intracellular polysaccharide involved in sporulation of "Clostridium butyricum" I. Cytology, production and preliminary enzymic analysis (author's transl)].

Free glucose concentration and polysaccharide production in Clostridium butyricum cells have been studied with an enzymatic method. Results indicated a substantial decrease in intracellular glucose content simultaneously with a production of polysaccharide prior to the end of exponential growth. Then the polysaccharide accumulated rapidly to reach a maximum just before the first refractile spores appeared, and it decreased by 50% during the last stages (V and VI) of sproulation. Electron micrographs of ultrathin sections have demonstrated that most of the polysaccharide is located inside the mother cell cytoplasm as large granules when the remaining is dispersed within the spore cytoplasm beginning during stage III of the sporulation. Overall results showed that production and use of C. butyricum polysaccharide were closely related to sporulation. The isolated polysaccharide exhibited poor water solubility, iodine spectrum with a lambda max at 545 nm and 72% beta-amylolysis. Total hydrolysis occurred with amyloglucosidase indicating an alpha-glucan containing alpha(1 leads to 4) and alpha(1 leads to 6) glucose linkages. The debranching from its beta-dextrin limit by pullulanase revealed the presence of a glycogen like-type structure with some external chains which are longer than those of a normal glycogen. This glycogen arrangement appeared to be of clusters linked by linear chains at least as long as the longest external chains.