Structural Characterization of the Released Polysaccharide of Desiccation-Tolerant Nostoc commune DRH-1

• DOI: 10.1128/jb.182.4.974-982.2000
• Publication Date: 2002-07-27T09:58:18Z
• Authors: Richard F. Helm; Zebo Huang; Devin Edwards; Heidi Leeson; William Peery; Malcolm Potts
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Hot Temperature; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Molecular Sequence Data; Polysaccharides, Bacterial; Oligosaccharides; Cyanobacteria; 03 medical and health sciences; Uronic Acids; Carbohydrate Sequence; Carbohydrate Conformation; Desiccation

ABSTRACT

The structure of the viscous extracellular polysaccharide (glycan) of desiccation-tolerant Nostoc commune DRH-1 was determined through chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. The polysaccharide is novel in that it possesses a 1-4-linked xylogalactoglucan backbone with d -ribofuranose and 3- O -[( R )-1-carboxyethyl]- d -glucuronic acid (nosturonic acid) pendant groups. The presence of d -ribose and nosturonic acid as peripheral groups is unusual, and their potential roles in modulating the rheological properties of the glycan are discussed. Nosturonic acid was present in the glycans of N. commune from diverse geographic locations, suggesting that this uronic acid is an integral component of this cosmopolitan anhydrophile.