Carbohydrates mucopolysaccharides,

Mucopolysaccharides (See section IV). In general these compounds have a low but significant protein content and give reactions which are predominantly carbohydrate. Their aqueous solutions show a high viscosity and they tend to become insoluble in water after intensive dehydration. 

Proteolytic digestion of proteoglycans liberates the carbohydrate side-chains, which are known as glycosaminoglycans (also known as mucopolysaccharides). All the glycosaminogly-cans contain derivatives of glucosamine or galactosamine. Six major groups are known, one of which is heparin. 

The single most important dmg molecule based on a carbohydrate stmcture is heparin. Heparin is a heterogeneous mixture of sulfated mucopolysaccharides it is composed of... 

Mucopolysaccharides are some of the most common structural carbohydrates in cestodes, although little is known of their biochemistry or function. They are heteropolymers and contain amino sugars (e.g. glucosamine, galactosamine) and uronic (glucuronic, galacturonic) acids. Often, mucopolysaccharides are complexed with proteins to form mucoproteins or glycoproteins, which, as discussed in Chapter 2, are major components of... 

Carbohydrates in algae and plants are often classified based on methodological discrimination. The structural carbohydrates are not water-soluble, whereas the other types of carbohydrates are water-soluble and typically extracted by hot water. In Phaeocystis five different pools of carbohydrates can be distinguished. Like all algal and plant cells, both solitary and colonial cells produce (1) structural carbohydrates, polysaccharides that are mainly part of the cell wall, (2) mono- and oligosaccharides, which are present as intermediates in the synthesis and catabolism of cell components, and (3) intracellular storage glucan. Colonial cells of Phaeocystis excrete (4) mucopolysaccharides, heteropolysaccharides that... 

When assuming that carbohydrates are the only significant source of carbon in the mucus matrix, the second method consists of determination of the contribution of mucopolysaccharides... 

Extra-colonial DOM rich in carbohydrates was reported in cultures of Phaeocystis (Table 5 and references therein). Carbohydrates similar in aldose composition to that of mucopolysaccharides form a major contribution to this DOM... 

Table lb). There seem to be two different pools of DOM (1) a high-molecular-weight (HMW)-DOM pool with a high C/N ratio of over 12 and a carbohydrate content of over 67% and (2) a low-molecular-weight (LMW)-DOM pool with a low C/N ratio of 6.3. Since all studies used filtration techniques applying pressure, it is most likely that the DOM also contained mucopolysaccharides. The overall C/N ratio of the DOM is low, around 7 (Biddanda and Benner 1997 Solomon et al. 2003). Similar to mucopolysaccharides, extracolonial polymers self assemble in hydrated polymer gels on a time scale of approximately two days (Solomon et al. 2003). 

Phaeocystis produces at least five different pools of carbohydrates, each with their own characteristics. Since the overflow metabohsm during the stationary phase of a bloom can be channeled towards glucan and mucopolysaccharides, these two pools are quantitatively the most important when the impact on the ecosystem is considered. The contribution of the pools is strongly dependent on environmental conditions. High light... 

Specific enzymatic degradation has been useful in determining the structures of pectins, gums and other plant polysaccharides (115), the mucopolysaccharides of higher animals (116), and other complex carbohydrates (117) including those from microorganisms 118, 119, 120). In these heterogeneous polymers enzyme treatment is most useful for deter-... 

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