Kuttel, Michelle and Ravenscroft, Neil and Foschiatti, Michaela and Cescutti, Paola and Rizzo, Roberto (2012) Conformational properties of two exopolysaccharides produced by Inquilinus limosus, a cystic fibrosis lung pathogen, Carbohydrate Research, 350, 40-48, Elsevier.
Full text not available from this repository. (Use alternate locations listed below)Abstract
Inquilinus limosus is a multi-resistant bacterium found in the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis. This bacterium produces two unique fully pyruvylated exopolysaccharides in similar quantities: an alpha-(1->2)-linked mannan and a beta-(1->3)-linked glucan. We employed molecular modelling methods to probe the characteristic conformations and dynamics of these polysaccharides, with corroboration from potentiometric titrations and circular dichroism experiments. Our calculations reveal different structural motifs for the mannan and glucan polysaccharides: the glucan forms primarily right-handed helices with a wide range of extensions, while the mannan forms only left-handed helices. This finding is supported by our circular dichroism experiments. Our calculations also show that the (1->3)-beta-D-Glcp linkage is more dynamically flexible than the (1->2)-alpha-D-Manp: the glucan characteristically forms a range of wide helices with large central cavities. In contrast, the mannan forms rigid regular ‘bottlebrush’ helices with a minimal central cavity. The widely different character of these two polymers suggests a possible differentiation of biological roles.
| Item Type: | Journal article (paginated) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Bacterial exopolysaccharides Inquilinus limosus Lung opportunists Molecular modelling Carbohydrates Conformation analysis |
| Subjects: | Applied computing > Life and medical sciences Applied computing > Physical sciences and engineering Computing methodologies > Modeling and simulation |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Feb 2012 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Oct 2019 15:33 |
| URI: | http://pubs.cs.uct.ac.za/id/eprint/762 |
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