Malic Acid-Containing Polysaccharide Produced by the Fungus Aureobasidium pullulans of Marine Origin.

Aureobasidium pullulans designated AL-2 strain, isolated from the intestine of the marine fish Hexagrammos otakii, produces an extracellular acidic polysaccharide containing malic acid. The polysaccharide was extracted with 1% phenol solution and purified by the addition of ethanol followed by precipitation with Cetavoln and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. This polysaccharide preparation, which was homogeneous in both ultracentrifugal and electrophoretic analyses, was composed of glucose and malic acid at a molar ratio of 1:1.