Polysaccharides commercial preparation

T ine structural studies on woody cell walls attacked by ectoenzymes of fungi in situ are numerous (cf. 1,2). In contrast, investigations on the selective degradation of cell walls by enzymes isolated from fungi are few. Jutte and Wardrop (3) attempted the use of crude commercial cellu-lase preparations to determine the degradation pattern of Valonia cellulose and beechwood fibers. Similar use of commercial preparations of enzymes was made by Reis and Roland (4) to evaluate the nature of diverse cell walls and to show the distribution of polysaccharides. An endo-/ -l,4-xylanase with specific xylanolytic activities was isolated from a commercial cellulase preparation using chromatographic methods and... 

The pneumococcus type I antibody used in some of the experiments was a commercial preparation, Lederle Refined and Concentrated Rabbit Globulin. The purified polysaccharide was prepared by Dr. J. E. Cushing, Jr. 

Pre-fermentation processing enzymes have been used for a long time by the wine and juice industries (van Rensburg and Pretorius, 2000). The first commercial enzyme preparations used were pectinases, enzymes responsible for the breakdown of pectin. Conventional application of pectinases pre-fermentation can enhance juice yield by degrading polysaccharides (e.g., pectin) that interfere with juice extraction. These preparations also improve the extraction of color (red wines) and flavor molecules trapped in grape skins as well as reduce the potential for post-fermentation instabilities. Newer commercial preparations may also contain secondary activities such as the ability to degrade cellulose to further enhance cell wall breakdown. 

However, if theoritically, the combination of pectinases to cellobiohydrolases plus endo-glucanases should release more than 80% of all polysaccharides from the cell walls (according to Voragen and al. [4]), in industrial conditions, we arrive almost at this level of degradation but only for the pectin. Commercial enzymes preparations contain pectinases, hemicellulases and cellulases. 

The most common naturally occurring disaccharides are sucrose (table sugar) and lactose (milk sugar). While sucrose is derived from plants and is prepared commercially from sugar cane and sugar beet, lactose is found in the milk of animals. Other common disaccharides that are produced by breaking down polysaccharides include maltose (obtained from starch) and cellobiose (obtained from cellulose). 

Xanthan is the extracellular (exocellular) polysaccharide produced by Xanthomonas campestris. As with other microbial polysaccharides, the characteristics (polymer structure, molecular weight, solution properties) of xanthan preparations are constant and reproducible when a particular strain of the organism is grown under specified conditions, as is done commercially. The characteristics vary, however, with variations in the strain of the organism, the sources of nitrogen and carbon, degree of medium oxygenation, temperature, pH, and concentrations of various mineral elements. 

More often, carbamates of dextran are prepared by one-step conversion of the polysaccharide with isocyanates or isothiocyanates. This path is especially useful for the conjugation of fluorescent dyes. Fluorescent-marked dextrans are commercial products today. Fluorescent dextran derivatives with different molecular weights and substituents are available as invaluable tracers for studies on microcirculation and vascular permeability in health and disease [8]. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) dextran (actually the thiocarba-mate) has been well established in this area of research since the 1970s [358]. The isothiocyanate of fluorescein is covalently bound to dextran leading to... 

---