Organization of cellulose fibrils in the capsular matrix of Acidisarcina polymorpha SBC82T identified by synchrotron radiation

A structural study of the cellulose-containing capsular matrix of Acidisarcina polymorpha SBC82^T was carried out using synchrotron radiation. Analysis of the diffraction pattern from a 45-day-old population of acidobacteria revealed that the crystalline structure of the capsular matrix, formed by cellulose fibrils with cylindrical symmetry, is well described by a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice. Processing of diffraction data allowed us to calculate the radius of fibrils in the main (17.0 ± 0.5 Å) and additional (10 ± 5.9 Å) directions and their mass ratio (9 : 1), as well as to estimate the size of the crystalline domain of the capsules (50 nm).