Enzymatic Synthesis of Cellulose

Cellulose, a homopolysaccharide whose glucose units are connected through β(1→4) glycosidic linkages, has been of great interest in many scientific and application fields as polymeric drugs and new biomaterials (1 ). So far, highly pure samples of cellulose and its derivatives have been produced for functional macromolecules, specimen for basic crystallographical research, enzyme substrates, and so on starting from various kinds of naturally occurring celluloses. The elongation of cellulose chain in vivo involves the addition of a nucleotide monomer, uridine diphosphate-glucose (UDP-glucose), to the nonreducing end of cellulose or cello-oligomers. The transformation of the naturally occurring cellulose into pure cellulose or cello-oligomers involves complicated processes such as the removal of hemicellulose and ligin, acetylation of hydroxyl groups, acidic cleavage of the cellulose backbone, and fractionation by chromatography. Therefore, the development of a new methodology for a convenient laboratory-scale preparation of cellulose and cello-oligomers has been strongly demanded.