Perspectives toward the Development of Advanced Materials Based on Bacterial Polysaccharides

Abstract

Bacteria and their enzymatic machinery, also called bacterial cell factories, produce a diverse variety of biopolymers, such as polynucleotides, polypeptides and polysaccharides, with different and fundamental cellular functions. Polysaccharides are the most widely used biopolymers, especially in biotechnology. This type of biopolymer, thanks to its physical and chemical properties, can be used to create a wide range of advanced bio-based materials, hybrid materials and nanocomposites for a variety of exciting biomedical applications. In contrast to synthetic polymers, bacterial polysaccharides have several advantages, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, low immunogenicity, and non-toxicity, among others. On the other hand, the main advantage of bacterial polysaccharides compared to polymers extracted from other natural sources is that their physicochemical properties, such as purity, porosity, and malleability, among others, can be adapted to a specific application with the use of biotechnological tools and/or chemical modifications. Another great reason for using bacterial polysaccharides is due to the possibility of developing advanced materials from them using bacterial factories that can metabolize raw materials (recycling of industrial and agricultural wastes) that are readily available and in large quantities. Moreover, through this strategy, it is possible to curb environmental pollution. In this article, we project the desire to move towards large-scale production of bacterial polysaccharides taking into account the benefits, weaknesses and prospects in the near future for the development of advanced biological materials for medical and pharmaceutical purposes.

Keywords: Bacterial polysaccharides; advanced bio-based materials; bacterial cell factories; films; hydrogels; nanoparticles; waste materials.