"a total of 194 bacteria were isolated from pulp and paper biofilms from a mill in thunder bay, canada. diversity of the 194 bacteria indicated that the amounts of bacteria found in these biofilms may be influenced by seasonal factors. from this stock of 194 bacteria, 55 isolates were preliminarily screened for their carbohydrate quantity and flocculation ability with hopes of identifying isolates that may be capable of producing an extracellular polymeric substance that could be used as a novel encapsulation material. four isolates, 1, 2, 8, and 34 were selected from the carbohydrate screening and they were identified as a flavobacterium sp. (isolate 1), pseudomonas sp. (isolate 2), and a sphingomonas sp. (isolate 34). unfortunately, isolate 8 identity could not be confirmed using 16s rdna sequencing and biochemical testing. isolates 1 and 34 carbohydrate was harvested and lyophilized in attempts to create gels. following gelation experiments using different concentrations of bacterial carbohydrate along with cation addition to the solution, it was observed that isolate 1 carbohydrate produced semi-solid gels at 2.0 and 1.0% w/v concentrations when fec1 3 was added. both isolate 1 and 34 carbohydrates appeared to enhance gelation of non-gelling concentrations of the known polysaccharides gellan and xanthan when mixed gel experiments were conducted. "--abstract