Cited by 938Polysaccharides Composition and ApplicationsSeaweed-derived Bioactive CompoundsAlgal biology and biofuel production

Overview of microalgal extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and their applications

Xiao, Rui, Zheng, Yi·2016·Biotechnology Advances

Abstract

Microalgae have been studied as natural resources for a number of applications, most particularly food, animal feed, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. In addition to the intracellular compounds of interest, microalgae can also excrete various extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) into their immediate living environment during their life cycle to form a hydrated biofilm matrix. These microalgal EPS mainly consist of polysaccharides, proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. Most notably, EPS retain their stable matrix structure and form a 3-D polymer network for cells to interact with each other, and mediate their adhesion to surfaces. EPS also play a role as extracellular energy and carbon sinks. They are also abundant source of structurally and compositionally diverse biopolymers which possess unique bioactivities for special high-value applications, specifically as antivirals, antitumor agents, antioxidants, anticoagulants and anti-inflammatories. Their superior rheological properties also make microalgal EPS particularly useful in mechanical engineering (e.g., biolubricants and drag reducers) and food science/engineering (e.g., thickener and preservatives) applications. The chemical composition and structure of EPS appear to correlate with their applications, but the fundamentals of such relationship are not well understood. This article summarizes previous research on microalgal EPS derived from green algae, diatoms and red algae, including compositions/functions/structure, production, and potential applications. The importance of exopolysaccharides and EPS proteins, with their particular metabolic characteristics, are also described because of their potential high-value applications. This review concludes with potential future research areas of microalgal EPS.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2016.08.004

Cites

232 of 232 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Extracellular polymeric substances derived from algae can accelerate metal biosorption, and their efficacy depends on EPS structure, solution properties, metal species, and operational conditions.

    “Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) derived from algae can accelerate metal biosorption, and their efficacy depends on the EPS structure, solution properties, metal species, and operational conditions [[81], [82]].”
  • EPS released by Cyanothece sp. can remove heavy metals from contaminated water due to organic functional groups, namely carboxyl and hydroxyl, rather than ion exchange.

    “Mota et al. [81] found that EPS released by Cyanothece sp. can remove HMs from contaminated water due to organic functional groups, namely carboxyl and hydroxyl, rather than ion exchange.”

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Xiao, R., & Zheng, Y.
Affiliations
Clemson University (US)
Corresponding author
Zheng, Yi
Venue
Biotechnology Advances
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-11
Volume
34
Issue
7
Pages
1225-1244
ISSN
0734-9750 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2510628989
Cited by
938
References
232
Citations by year
2026: 99 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 138 · 2023: 122 · 2022: 118 · 2021: 103 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 65 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 2
FWCI
4.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Biotechnology Advances (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Polysaccharides Composition and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
Keywords
exopolysaccharides, EPS proteins, biofilm matrix, biopolymers, green algae, diatoms, red algae, antiviral activity, antioxidant activity, rheological properties, biolubricants, drag reducer, food thickeners, biopolymer production
MeSH terms
Biopolymers, Polysaccharides, Bacterial, Species Specificity, Microalgae

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review