Monosaccharides degradation with strong acids

Traditionally, polysaccharides were hydrolyzed with a strong acid, such as 1 M or 2 M hydrochloric acid for 1 hr in a boiling water bath (Adams, 1965). However, some polysaccharides are completely hydrolyzed at lower acid concentrations or shorter times, and others require more strenuous conditions. Concomitantly, the monosaccharides formed by acid hydrolysis may be degraded by the acid (Aspi-... 

Physical or chemical modification of a substrate may additionally selectively affect transformation or uptake Keil and Kirchman (1992) compared the degradation of Rubisco uniformly labeled with 3H amino acids produced via in vitro translation to Rubisco that was reductively methylated with 3H-methane. Although both Rubisco preparations were hydrolyzed to lower molecular weights at approximately the same rate, little of the methylated protein was assimilated or respired. The presence of one substrate may also inhibit uptake of another, as has been demonstrated for anaerobic rumen bacteria. Transport and metabolism of the monosaccharides xylose and arabinose were strongly reduced in Ruminococcus albus in the presence of cellobiose (a disaccharide of glucose), likely because of repression of pentose utilization in the presence of the disaccharide. Glucose, in contrast, competitively inhibited xylose transport and showed noncompetitive inhibition of arabinose transport, likely because of inactivation of arabinose permease (Thurston et al., 1994). 

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