title: Chemical organization of the cell wall polysaccharide core of Malassezia restricta.
abstract: Malassezia species are ubiquitous residents of human skin and are associated with several diseases such as seborrheic dermatitis, tinea versicolor, folliculitis, atopic dermatitis, and scalp conditions such as dandruff. Host-Malassezia interactions and mechanisms to evade local immune responses remain largely unknown. Malassezia restricta is one of the most predominant yeasts of the healthy human skin, its cell wall has been investigated in this paper. Polysaccharides in the M. restricta cell wall are almost exclusively alkali-insoluble, showing that they play an essential role in the organization and rigidity of the M. restricta cell wall. Fractionation of cell wall polymers and carbohydrate analyses showed that the polysaccharide core of the cell wall of M. restricta contained an average of 5% chitin, 20% chitosan, 5% β-(1,3)-glucan, and 70% β-(1,6)-glucan. In contrast to other yeasts, chitin and chitosan are relatively abundant, and β-(1,3)-glucans constitute a minor cell wall component. The most abundant polymer is β-(1,6)-glucans, which are large molecules composed of a linear β-(1,6)-glucan chains with β-(1,3)-glucosyl side chain with an average of 1 branch point every 3.8 glucose unit. Both β-glucans are cross-linked, forming a huge alkali-insoluble complex with chitin and chitosan polymers. Data presented here show that M. restricta has a polysaccharide organization very different of all fungal species analyzed to date.
authors.affiliation: From the Unité des Aspergillus, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stalhberger
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simenel
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clavaud
authors.forename: Vincent G H
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Eijsink
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jourdain
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delepierre
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Latgé
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Breton
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fontaine
mesh_terms: D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry*; D002686:Chitin / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008290:Malassezia / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011509:Proteoglycans; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D011509:Proteoglycans; D047071:beta-Glucans; D002686:Chitin; C064197:beta-1,6-glucan; C010770:polysaccharide-K
keywords: Carbohydrate Complex; Carbohydrate Structure; Cell Wall; Chitin; Yeast