and they are able to use some
of these compounds as the only sources of carbon and energy.
Today many microorganisms, specially Pseudomonas sp. are used
to degrade organic pollutants in order to minimize contamination
caused by several industrial activities [6]. However, in recent studies
extracellular polysaccharides produced by Pseudomonas species
have been widely reported [7–10] and polysaccharide production
is a common property among these bacteria. Polysaccharides are
believed to protect bacterial cells from desiccation, heavy metals,
organic compounds or other environmental stresses, including hostimmune
responses, and to produce biofilms, thus to enhance the
chances of the cells to colonize special ecological niches [11–14].
Besides this, the role of polysaccharides in industry is based on their