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Polysaccharides
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Microbial Polysaccharides as Molecules with Tremendous Biological Importance
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Microbial Polysaccharides as Molecules with Tremendous Biological Importance

A special issue of Polysaccharides (ISSN 2673-4176).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 7125

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sabina Górska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Head of Microbiome Immunobiology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Weigla 12 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: glycobiology; bacterial polysaccharides; glycoconjugates; structural and biochemical characterization; polysaccharide-host cell interaction; medical application of polysaccharides; pro-, pre-, para- and postbiotics; immunomodulatory properties of polysaccharides; immunochemistry; NMR spectroscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Collegues,

The purpose of this Special Issue is to place the spotlight on the importance of polysaccharides produced by bacteria for human health.

Microbial polysaccharides are biopolymers that signifficantly differ in chemical structure as well as biological activity. These biopolymers are composed of various saccharide monomers creating linear or branching repeating carbohydrate units. They could be covalently or ionically bound to the peptidoglycan layer or attached to the surface of cells, forming an envelope or released outside the cell. These macromolecules have found important biological application as pharmaceutical and medical substances (immunomodulators, antibacterial, viral, tumor agents), food excipients, drug delivery system or vaccine adjuvants and diagnostic targets.

The goal of this Special Issue is to provide the most recent research on microbial polysaccharides that covers all aspects from synthesis, structural analysis, and biological activity to their application.

Assoc. Prof. Sabina Górska
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polysaccharides is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • glycobiology
  • bacterial polysaccharides
  • glycoconjugates
  • structural and biochemical characterization
  • polysaccharide–host cell interaction
  • medical application of polysaccharides
  • pro-, pre-, para-, and postbiotics
  • immunomodulatory properties of polysaccharides
  • immunochemistry
  • NMR spectroscopy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Structure and Conformation Study of the O-Antigen from the Lipopolysaccharide of Cupriavidus Metallidurans CH34
by Anna Notaro, Adele Vanacore, Antonio Molinaro, Immacolata Speciale and Cristina De Castro
Polysaccharides 2022, 3(1), 188-199; https://doi.org/10.3390/polysaccharides3010009 - 20 Jan 2022
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Abstract
Cupriavidus metallidurans is a Gram-negative bacterium that has attracted the attention of the scientific community since its discovery back in 1976. It was initially studied as a model organism for bioremediation processes due to its ability to survive in heavy metal-rich environments. However, [...] Read more.
Cupriavidus metallidurans is a Gram-negative bacterium that has attracted the attention of the scientific community since its discovery back in 1976. It was initially studied as a model organism for bioremediation processes due to its ability to survive in heavy metal-rich environments. However, in recent years, there is evidence that this bacterium can be a potential pathogen for humans. How C. metallidurans can survive in such different environments is unknown and prompted the following work. Its great adaptability could be explained by the structural and conformational studies of the O-antigen portion of the lipopolysaccharide, the main constituent of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, which is the one in direct contact with the external environment. Therefore, a combination of chemical and spectroscopic analyses was used to define the O-antigen structure, disclosing that it is a polysaccharide constituted of a linear tetrasaccharide repeating unit that does not resemble other structures already reported for bacteria: [4)-α-d-GalNAc-(1→3)-α-d-Qui2NAc4NHBA-(1→3)-α-l-Rha-(1→3)-α-l-Rha-(1→]. Interestingly, the molecular dynamics studies revealed that the three-dimensional structure of the O-antigen is highly flexible: it might adopt three different right-handed helix conformations described by a two, three, or four-fold symmetry. This conformational behavior could represent the reason behind the survival of C. metallidurans in different environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Polysaccharides as Molecules with Tremendous Biological Importance)
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Review

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11 pages, 680 KiB  
Review
Synthesis of the Microbial Polysaccharide Gellan from Dairy and Plant-Based Processing Coproducts
by Thomas P. West
Polysaccharides 2021, 2(2), 234-244; https://doi.org/10.3390/polysaccharides2020016 - 06 Apr 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3044
Abstract
This review examines the production of the microbial polysaccharide gellan, synthesized by Sphingomonas elodea, on dairy and plant-based processing coproducts. Gellan is a water-soluble gum that structurally exists as a tetrasaccharide comprised of 20% glucuronic acid, 60% glucose and 20% rhamnose, for [...] Read more.
This review examines the production of the microbial polysaccharide gellan, synthesized by Sphingomonas elodea, on dairy and plant-based processing coproducts. Gellan is a water-soluble gum that structurally exists as a tetrasaccharide comprised of 20% glucuronic acid, 60% glucose and 20% rhamnose, for which various food, non-food and biomedical applications have been reported. A number of carbon and nitrogen sources have been tested to determine whether they can support bacterial gellan production, with several studies attempting to optimize gellan production by varying the culture conditions. The genetics of the biosynthesis of gellan has been explored in a number of investigations and specific genes have been identified that encode the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of this polysaccharide. Genetic mutants exhibiting overproduction of gellan have also been identified and characterized. Several dairy and plant-based processing coproducts have been screened to learn whether they can support the production of gellan in an attempt to lower the cost of synthesizing the microbial polysaccharide. Of the processing coproducts explored, soluble starch as a carbon source supported the highest gellan production by S. elodea grown at 30 °C. The corn processing coproducts corn steep liquor or condensed distillers solubles appear to be effective nitrogen sources for gellan production. It was concluded that further research on producing gellan using a combination of processing coproducts could be an effective solution in lowering its overall production costs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Polysaccharides as Molecules with Tremendous Biological Importance)
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