Production, Characterization and Immunomodulatory Activity of an Extracellular Polysaccharide from Rhodotorula mucilaginosa YL-1 Isolated from Sea Salt Field

A novel exopolysaccharide from marine-derived red yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa strain YL-1 was produced and characterized. The highest yield of polysaccharide reached 15.1 g/L after medium and culture parameter optimization. This exopolysaccharide, composed of four neural monosaccharides including glucose, mannose, galactose and fucose, had an average molecular weight of 1200 KDa. It had good immunomodulatory activity on RAW256.7 cell lines. ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) and Q-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR) results showed that the cell was stimulated to express more IL-6, IL-18, IL-1 beta and TNF alpha cytokines than the control group. This is the first report of an exopolysaccharide with immunomodulatory activity from marine-derived Rhodotorula mucilaginosa.