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Beta-glucan
Beta-glucans, β-glucans comprise a group of β-D-glucose polysaccharides (glucans) naturally occurring in the cell walls of cereals, bacteria, and fungi, with significantly differing physicochemical properties dependent on source. Typically, β-glucans form a linear backbone with 1–3 β-glycosidic bonds but vary with respect to molecular mass, solubility, viscosity, branching structure, and gelation properties, causing diverse physiological effects in animals. At dietary intake levels of at least 3 g per day, oat fiber β-glucan decreases blood levels of LDL cholesterol and so may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. β-glucans are natural gums and are used as texturing agents in various nutraceutical and cosmetic products, and as soluble fiber supplements. History Cereal and fungal products have been used for centuries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes; however, the specific role of β-glucan was not explored until the 20th century. β-glucans were first discov ...
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1,3-Beta-glucan Synthase
1,3-Beta-glucan synthase is a glucosyltransferase enzyme involved in the generation of beta-glucan in fungi. It serves as a pharmacological target for antifungal drugs such as caspofungin, anidulafungin, and micafungin, deemed 1,3-Beta-glucan synthase inhibitors. Under the CAZy classification system, fungi and plant members fall in the glycosyltransferase 48 family (GT48). Some members of the glycosyltransferase 2 family (), such as the curdlan synthase ''CrdS''Q9X2V0, also has a similar activity. The biosynthesis of disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides involves the action of hundreds of different glycosyltransferases. These enzymes catalyse the transfer of sugar moieties from activated donor molecules to specific acceptor molecules, forming glycosidic bonds. The family consists of various 1,3-beta-glucan synthase components including Gls1, Gls2, and Gls3 from yeast. 1,3-Beta-glucan synthase () also known as callose synthase catalyses the formation of a ...
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Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity, and fermentability, which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main components: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, which are components of plant-based foods, such as legumes, whole grains and cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non- starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulin, lignins, chitins (in fungi), pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides. Food sources of dietary fiber have traditionally been divided according to whether the ...
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Oat Beta-glucan
Oat β-glucans are water-soluble β-glucans derived from the endosperm of oat kernels known for their dietary contribution as components of soluble fiber. Due to their property to lower serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and potentially reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, oat β-glucans have been assigned a qualified health claim by the European Food Safety Authority and the US Food and Drug Administration. History Oat products have been used for centuries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes; however, the specific role of β-glucan was not explored until the 20th century. β-glucans were first discovered in lichens, and shortly thereafter in barley. After joining Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 1969, Peter J Wood played an instrumental role in isolating and characterizing the structure and bioactive properties of oat β-glucan. A public interest in oat β-glucan arose after its cholesterol lowering effect was reported in 1984. In ...
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Fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the ''Eumycota'' (''tru ...
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Natural Gum
Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large increase in a solution's viscosity, even at small concentrations. They are mostly botanical gums, found in the woody elements of plants or in seed coatings. Human uses They are used in the food industry as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifying agents, and stabilizers, and in other industrial adhesives, binding agents, crystal inhibitors, clarifying agents, encapsulating agents, flocculating agents, swelling agents, foam stabilizers, etc. When consumed by humans, many of these gums are fermented by the microbes that inhabit the lower gastrointestinal tract (microbiome) and may influence the ecology and functions of these microscopic communities. Examples Natural gums can be classified according to their origin. They can also be classified as uncharged or ionic polymers (polyelectrolyte Polyelectrolytes are polymers whose repeating units bear an electrolyte group. Polycations and pol ...
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Cellulose Sessel
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. The cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90%, that of wood is 40–50%, and that of dried hemp is approximately 57%. Cellulose is mainly used to produce paperboard and paper. Smaller quantities are converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Conversion of cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under development as a renewable fuel source. Cellulose for industrial use is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the h ...
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Cellulose Synthase (UDP-forming)
The UDP-forming form of cellulose synthase () is the main enzyme that produces cellulose. Systematically, it is known as ''UDP-glucose:(1→4)-β-D-glucan 4-β-D-glucosyltransferase'' in enzymology. It catalyzes the chemical reaction: : UDP-glucose + 1→4)-β-D-glucosylsub>n = UDP + 1→4)-β-D-glucosylsub>n+1 A similar enzyme utilizes GDP-glucose, cellulose synthase (GDP-forming) ( EC 2.4.1.29). This family of enzymes is found in bacteria and plants alike. Plant members are usually known as ''CesA'' (cellulose synthase) or the tentative ''CslA'' (cellulose synthase-like), while bacterial members may additionally be known as ''BcsA'' (bacterial cellulose synthase) or ''CelA'' (simply "cellulose"). Plants acquired ''CesA'' from the endosymbiosis event that produced the chloroplast. This family belongs to glucosyltransferase family 2 (GT2). Glycosyltransferases are involved in the biosynthesis and hydrolysis of the bulk of earth's biomass. There are known to be about seve ...
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Curdlan
Curdlan is a water-insoluble linear beta-1,3-glucan, a high-molecular-weight polymer of glucose. Curdlan consists of β-(1,3)-linked glucose residues and forms elastic gels upon heating in aqueous suspension. It was reported to be produced by ''Alcaligenes faecalis'' var. ''myxogenes''. Subsequently, the taxonomy of this non-pathogenic curdlan-producing bacterium has been reclassified as ''Agrobacterium'' species. Extracellular and capsular polysaccharides are produced by a variety of pathogenic and soil-dwelling bacteria. Curdlan is a neutral β-(1,3)-glucan, perhaps with a few intra- or interchain 1,6-linkages, produced as an exopolysaccharide by soil bacteria of the family Rhizobiaceae. Four genes required for curdlan production have been identified in ''Agrobacterium'' sp. ATCC31749, which produces curdlan in extraordinary amounts, and ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens''. A putative operon In genetics, an operon is a functioning unit of DNA containing a cluster of genes under ...
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Curdlan Haworth
Curdlan is a water-insoluble linear beta-1,3- glucan, a high-molecular-weight polymer of glucose. Curdlan consists of β-(1,3)-linked glucose residues and forms elastic gels upon heating in aqueous suspension. It was reported to be produced by ''Alcaligenes faecalis'' var. ''myxogenes''. Subsequently, the taxonomy of this non-pathogenic curdlan-producing bacterium has been reclassified as ''Agrobacterium'' species. Extracellular and capsular polysaccharides are produced by a variety of pathogenic and soil-dwelling bacteria. Curdlan is a neutral β-(1,3)-glucan, perhaps with a few intra- or interchain 1,6-linkages, produced as an exopolysaccharide by soil bacteria of the family Rhizobiaceae. Four genes required for curdlan production have been identified in ''Agrobacterium'' sp. ATCC31749, which produces curdlan in extraordinary amounts, and '' Agrobacterium tumefaciens''. A putative operon contains crdSQ9X2V0 family GT2, ), encoding β-(1,3)-glucan synthase catalytic subunit, flan ...
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Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been originally isolated from the skin of grapes. It is one of the most intensively studied eukaryotic model organisms in molecular and cell biology, much like '' Escherichia coli'' as the model bacterium. It is the microorganism behind the most common type of fermentation. ''S. cerevisiae'' cells are round to ovoid, 5–10  μm in diameter. It reproduces by budding. Many proteins important in human biology were first discovered by studying their homologs in yeast; these proteins include cell cycle proteins, signaling proteins, and protein-processing enzymes. ''S. cerevisiae'' is currently the only yeast cell known to have Berkeley bodies present, which are involved in particular secretory pathways. Antibodies against ''S. ...
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