title: Oligosaccharide beta-glucans with unusual linkages from Sarcina ventriculi.
abstract: The structure of a family of unusual glucans from Sarcina ventriculi has been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and mass spectrometry. One is a trisaccharide containing a beta-(1-->3) and a beta-(1-->4)-linkage. The other is a hexasaccharide that is simply a 1,4-linkage dimer of the trisaccharide unit. This is the first report of beta-glucan biosynthesis in a Gram-positive organism. Their occurrence in these organisms supports an even more general link between their synthesis and the adaptability of bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Hollingsworth
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D005936:Glucans / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008745:Methylation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012505:Sarcina / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005936:Glucans; D009844:Oligosaccharides