A team of researchers with members from Peking University and WuXi AppTec (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., has designed and built an automated carbohydrate synthesizer that produced polysaccharides of record-breaking length. In their ...
A fungus that plagues rice crops worldwide gains entry to plant cells in a way that leaves it vulnerable to simple chemical blockers, a discovery that could lead to new fungicides to reduce the substantial annual losses of ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 13, 2023
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82
In Gram-negative bacteria, which include some of the most devastating human pathogens, just two mechanisms for the export of polysaccharides have been identified so far. Now a Max Planck research team led by Lotte Søgaard-Andersen ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 29, 2022
0
106
Strings of sugars called polysaccharides are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. Because of their versatile and environmentally friendly properties, these molecules could eventually replace some plastics. Now, researchers ...
Polymers
Mar 16, 2022
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70
The next time you get a craving for sushi rolls, you may feel a renewed appreciation for the ocean. It's to thank not only for your fish and seaweed wrapper, but, as a new Michigan Medicine study suggests, for the bacteria ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 2, 2022
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176
University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a new complex carbohydrate in barley. The first of its kind to be discovered in over 30 years, the cereal polysaccharide has potential applications in food, medicine and ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 8, 2019
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165
An international team of scientists including the University of Adelaide has discovered a new complex carbohydrate in moss that could possibly be exploited for health or other uses.
Biotechnology
Apr 23, 2018
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296
A study of the unusual digestive system of an ancient group of insects has provided new insights into future biofuel production.
Biotechnology
Feb 22, 2018
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90
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of York, has discovered a set of enzymes found in fungi that are capable of breaking down one of the main components of wood. The enzymes could ...
Biochemistry
Feb 16, 2018
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78
Using neutron crystallography, a Los Alamos research team has mapped the three-dimensional structure of a protein that breaks down polysaccharides, such as the fibrous cellulose of grasses and woody plants, a finding that ...
Biochemistry
May 18, 2017
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266
Polysaccharides are long carbohydrate molecules, of repeated monomer units joined together by glycosidic bonds. They range in structure from linear to highly branched. Polysaccharides are often quite heterogeneous, containing slight modifications of the repeating unit. Depending on the structure, these macromolecules can have distinct properties from their monosaccharide building blocks. They may be amorphous or even insoluble in water.
When all the monosaccharides in a polysaccharide are the same type, the polysaccharide is called a homopolysaccharide or homoglycan, but when more than one type of monosaccharide is present they are called heteropolysaccharides or heteroglycans.
Examples include storage polysaccharides such as starch and glycogen, and structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin.
Polysaccharides have a general formula of Cx(H2O)y where x is usually a large number between 200 and 2500. Considering that the repeating units in the polymer backbone are often six-carbon monosaccharides, the general formula can also be represented as (C6H10O5)n where 40≤n≤3000.
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