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The relationship between desiccation and the production of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) by soil bacteria was investigated by using a Pseudomonas species isolated from soil. Cultures subjected to desiccation while growing in a sand matrix contained more EPS and less protein than those growing at high water potential, suggesting that resources were allocated to EPS production in response to desiccation. Desiccation did not have a significant effect on activity as measured by reduction of iodonitrotetrazolium. Purified EPS produced by the Pseudomonas culture contained several times its weight in water at low water potential. Sand amended with EPS held significantly more water and dried significantly more slowly than unamended sand, implying that an EPS matrix may buffer bacterial colonies from some effects of desiccation. We conclude that bacteria may use EPS production to alter their microenvironment to enhance survival of desiccation.
Roberson et al. (Wed,) studied this question.