Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Bio/Molecular Informatics Center, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
BMB Rep. 2009 Dec 31;42(12):769-75. doi: 10.5483/bmbrep.2009.42.12.769.
Periplasmic glucans (PGs) are general constituents in the periplasmic space of Proteobacteria. PGs from bacterial strains are found in larger amounts during growth on medium with low osmolarity and thus are often been specified as osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPGs). Furthermore, they appear to play crucial roles in pathogenesis and symbiosis. PGs have been classified into four families based on the structural features of their backbones, and they can be modified by a variety of non-sugar substituents. It has also recently been confirmed that novel PGs with various degrees of polymerization (DPs) and/or different substituents are produced under different growth conditions among Proteobacteria. In addition to their biological functions as regulators of low osmolarity, PGs have a variety of physico-chemical properties due to their inherent three-dimensional structures, hydrogen-bonding and complex-forming abilities. Thus, much attention has recently been focused on their physico-chemical applications. In this review, we provide an updated classification of PGs, as well as a description of the occurrences of novel PGs with substituents under various bacterial growth environments, the genes involved in PG biosynthesis and the various physico-chemical properties of PGs.
周质聚糖 (PGs) 是变形菌纲细菌周质空间的常见成分。在低渗透压培养基中生长时，细菌株系的 PGs 含量更高，因此通常被指定为渗透压调节周质聚糖 (OPGs)。此外，它们似乎在发病机制和共生中发挥关键作用。根据其骨架的结构特征，PGs 可分为四个家族，并且可以通过各种非糖取代基进行修饰。最近还证实，在变形菌纲中，在不同的生长条件下会产生具有不同聚合度 (DP) 和/或不同取代基的新型 PGs。除了作为低渗透压调节剂的生物学功能外，PGs 还由于其固有三维结构、氢键和形成复合物的能力而具有多种物理化学性质。因此，最近人们对其物理化学应用给予了极大关注。在这篇综述中，我们提供了 PG 最新的分类，并描述了在各种细菌生长环境下具有取代基的新型 PG 的出现、PG 生物合成相关基因以及 PG 的各种物理化学性质。
