REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Bioprocess Engineering
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1593893
Advances in Alginate Biosynthesis: Regulation and Production in Azotobacter vinelandii
Provisionally accepted
- 1Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
- 2Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile
- 3Departamento de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid., Madrid, Asturias, Spain
- 4Escuela de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
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Alginates are polysaccharides composed of (1-4)-β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-Lguluronic acid (G), whose proportions influence their rheological properties and a wide range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries. Azotobacter vinelandii, a gram-negative bacterium, has been studied for its ability to produce alginate due to its capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen and its high respiratory activity. The biosynthesis of alginate in A. vinelandii involves precursor synthesis, polymerization, modification, and secretion, which are regulated by complex mechanisms, including the secondary messenger c-di-GMP. This regulatory network links cellular respiration with alginate yield and molecular characteristics. Fermentation strategies show that high oxygen transfer rates (OTRs) enhance alginate production, whereas low OTRs favor the synthesis of alginate with higher molecular weights and higher G/M ratios, which are crucial for advanced applications such as hydrogels and drug delivery systems. Insights into these biosynthetic and regulatory processes enable scalable production of high-quality alginate, bridging laboratory research with industrial applications and expanding its potential in the biotechnological and medical fields.
Keywords: Alginate, Azotobacter vinelandii, biosynthesis, regulation, oxygen transfer rate
Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ponce, Zamora-Quiroz, González, Andler and Díaz-Barrera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alvaro Díaz-Barrera, Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
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