N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Leninskii Prospect 47, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Adv Carbohydr Chem Biochem. 2011;65:115-217. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-385520-6.00004-2.
Red algae (Rhodophyta) are known as the source of unique sulfated galactans, such as agar, agarose, and carrageenans. The wide practical uses of these polysaccharides are based on their ability to form strong gels in aqueous solutions. Gelling polysaccharides usually have molecules built up of repeating disaccharide units with a regular distribution of sulfate groups, but most of the red algal species contain more complex galactans devoid of gelling ability because of various deviations from the regular structure. Moreover, several red algae may contain sulfated mannans or neutral xylans instead of sulfated galactans as the main structural polysaccharides. This chapter is devoted to a description of the structural diversity of polysaccharides found in the red algae, with special emphasis on the methods of structural analysis of sulfated galactans. In addition to the structural information, some data on the possible use of red algal polysaccharides as biologically active polymers or as taxonomic markers are briefly discussed.
红藻（Rhodophyta）被认为是独特的硫酸化半乳聚糖的来源，如琼脂、琼脂糖和卡拉胶。这些多糖的广泛实际用途基于它们在水溶液中形成强凝胶的能力。形成凝胶的多糖通常具有由重复二糖单元组成的分子，其硫酸基团的分布具有规则性，但由于结构的各种偏差，大多数红藻物种含有更复杂的不具有凝胶能力的半乳聚糖。此外，一些红藻可能含有硫酸化甘露聚糖或中性木聚糖而不是硫酸化半乳聚糖作为主要结构多糖。本章专门描述了在红藻中发现的多糖的结构多样性，特别强调了硫酸化半乳聚糖结构分析的方法。除了结构信息外，还简要讨论了红藻多糖作为生物活性聚合物或作为分类标记的可能用途的一些数据。
