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Lookup NU author(s): Professor William WillatsORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Euglena gracilis is an alga of great biotechnological interest and extensive metabolic capacity, able to make high levels of bioactive compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and β-glucan. Previous work has shown that Euglena expresses a wide range of carbohydrate-active enzymes, suggesting an unexpectedly high capacity for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates for a single-celled organism. Here, we present an analysis of some of the carbohydrates synthesised by Euglena gracilis. Analysis of the sugar nucleotide pool showed that there are the substrates necessary for synthesis of complex polysaccharides, including the unusual sugar galactofuranose. Lectin- and antibody-based profiling of whole cells and extracted carbohydrates revealed a complex galactan, xylan and aminosugar based surface. Protein N-glycan profiling, however, indicated that just simple high mannose-type glycans are present and that they are partially modified with putative aminoethylphosphonate moieties. Together, these data indicate that Euglena possesses a complex glycan surface, unrelated to plant cell walls, while its protein glycosylation is simple. Taken together, these findings suggest that Euglena gracilis may lend itself to the production of pharmaceutical glycoproteins.
Author(s): O'Neill EC, Kuhaudomlarp S, Rejzek M, Fangel JU, Alagesan K, Kolarich D, Willats WGT, Field RA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Biology
Year: 2017
Volume: 6
Issue: 4
Online publication date: 15/12/2017
Acceptance date: 08/12/2017
Date deposited: 07/02/2018
ISSN (electronic): 2079-7737
Publisher: MDPI AG
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6040045
DOI: 10.3390/biology6040045
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