Envisioning Production of Alginates Through the Lens of Multi-Omics

Microbial communities secrete exopolysaccharides such as alginate forming biofilms at various surfaces/environments, which could be the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, or wounds, that support bacterial growth and survival. The discovery of alginate, various sources of alginate, alginate biosynthesis, structure, and properties are explained in detail. Modifications in bacterial alginates could be facilitated during acetylation and epimerization for desired properties. Various omics approaches leverage tailor-made alginate production having desired physicochemical properties. Machine learning (ML) methods with examples to modify alginates of industrial importance are explained in this chapter. Various omics studies are discussed, which contribute to exploring biofilm development, host biofilm interaction, antibiotic resistance, etc. In this chapter, we provide insights into the state-of-the-art elucidating the production of alginates and highlight their roles in biomedical and other industrial applications.