3. Polymer structure

The YAS34 polymer is a polysaccharide obtained from the R. alamii YAS34 strain. . Its chemical structure (nature of sugars, linkage, presence of substituents) was determined and it was shown that the repeating unit is made up of seven sugars: one glucuronic acid (Glcp A), 3 glucoses (Glcp) and 3 galactoses (Galp) (figure 3 ). Two of the neutral sugars form a side chain, with one pyruvate group per side chain at the end. . Acetyl groups (averaging 1.85 per repeat unit in the native state) are also present, but not localized.