Background: Xanthan gum is an important microbial polysaccharide, which is synthesized by bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas and considered as pest for a lot of plants. This research has been done with the purpose of isolating and identifying Xanthomonas strain from leaves of lemon trees and the production of Xanthan gum.
Methods: Sampling from marked leaves of lemon trees that were infected by bacterial canker was performed and isolating the disease agent on culture environment of YDC was carried out at 28oC temperature after 24-48 hours. Then, the obtained colony was assessed for morphological and biochemical characteristics viewpoints. An environment for producing Xanthan gum was used to produce the gum and then final identification of separated bacteria was studied by 16S rRNA method.
Results: In this research, a new strain under the name of Xanthomonas campestris strain saba. ton was known. This bacteria is gram negative, obligate aerobic and short Bacillus and also its colony on agar medium, is yellow, mucoide and viscous and also the amount of Xanthan production was reported to be 0.081-1.5 g/ 100 ml.
Conclusion: In the present study, the identification and the ability of a local strain in production of Xanthan gum have been studied. Without optimizing the growth conditions it had a potential power in the production of Xanthan gum and purification of the produced Xanthan from the isolated strain makes it usable for food consumptions and also in other cases.