Polysaccharides bacterial types

Many different types of carbohydrate-containing molecules are located on the surface of microbial cells. Some of these are components of die microbial cell wall and are limited to certain types of micro-organisms such as bacterial peptidoglycan, lipopolysaccharides, techoic adds and yeast mannans. Other polysaccharides are not... 

Once a general conformation type or preliminary classification has been established it is possible to use sedimentation data to obtain more detailed information about polysaccharide conformation. For example, the low value of ks/[v 0 25 found for the bacterial polysaccharide xylinan has been considered to be due to asymmetry [115]. If we then assume a rigid structure the approximate theory of Rowe [36,37] can be applied in terms of a prolate ellipsoid of revolution to estimate the aspect ratio p L/d for a rod, where L is the rod length and d is its diameter) 80. 

Five pentoses, namely, D-ribose, d- and L-arabinose, and D- and L-xylose, have been found in hydrolyzates of bacterial polysaccharides. D-Riboseisthe most common of these, and is a component of different LPS, capsular polysaccharides, and teichoic acid type of polymers. In all these polymers, it occurs as the /I-furanosyl group or residue. 

D-Xylose, which is one of the most abundant sugars in plant polysaccharides, is a rare component of bacterial polysaccharides. It is found in the LPS of Type 1 Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain" GC 6. L-Xylose and its 3-methyI ether are components of the LPS of Pseudomonas maltophila strain NCTC 10257, and are j -pyranosidic. The d- and L-sugars, and different methyl ethers of these, have also been found in the LPS of some photosynthetic bacteria."... 

Two extracellular D-fructans, (2- 6)-linked S-D-fructofuranan or levan and the less common corresponding (2 l)-linked polysaccharide, of the inulin type, are elaborated by different bacteria. These polysaccharides are formed from sucrose by the action of sucrose fructosyltransferases. Terminal )S-D-fructofuranosyl groups are present in some bacterial heteropolysacchar-... 

Many bacterial polysaccharides contain phosphoric ester groups. There is a limited number of examples of monoesters. More common are phosphoric diesters, connecting an amino alcohol or an alditol to the polysaccharide chain. Another possibility is that oligosaccharide or oligosaccharide-alditol repeating units are connected to a polymer by phosphoric diester linkages. In addition to the intracellular teichoic acids, several bacteria, for example, different types of Streptococcus pneumoniae, elaborate extracellular polymers of this type. These polymers are generally discussed in connection with the bacterial polysaccharides. 

F.a.b.-m.s. has been applied to three types of problem in the bacterial polysaccharide area assigning compositions (including the number and type of O-acyl groups), sequencing, and identifying cyclic structures. The last application is covered in Section VI,5. 

In this group we place mainly the neutral bacterial slimes and reserve carbohydrates. They are better defined products than those previously dealt with and as such may of course be regarded as true polysaccharides. Invariably, however, saponification methods are required to rid them of protein residues and to make them water-soluble. The more soluble mold polysaccharides appear to lose their protein constituents by autolytic processes during the longer periods required for mold metabolism. Mold slime production can, however, readily be demonstrated on a solid medium. It is proposed here to give briefly some of the types of structure known in the group. 

Bacterial, plant, and fungal enzymes for degradation/modification of polysaccharides left-hand-twisted /8-solenoid with L-type cross section... 

Information concerning glycosidie linkages, also, may be obtained from 13C-n.m.r. spectra. In this way, the type of glycosidie linkage in bacterial polysaccharides has been studied by Bhattachaijee and co-... 

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