Certain strains of Acetobacter have been known to
produce cellulose in culture media. Acetobacter xylinum
is nature’s most prolific cellulose-producing bacterium
(1, 2).
The microbial cellulose is produced extracellularly in
the form of fibrils attached to the bacterial cell. Fibrils
from different cells are enmeshed to produce pellicles
which are mixtures of cellulose and cells. To date, the
processes for the production of microbial cellulose have
used static cultivation methods with the pellicles of
microbial cellulose being formed on the surface of the
static culture, which is usually contained in shallow
trays. The productivity using such methods is quite low
and this method is labor intensive. Therefore, for commercial
production, it is necessary to establish a mass
production system using the more productive agitated
culture technique.