Publication details
Yeast and fungal cell-wall polysaccharides can self-assemble in vitro into an ultrastructure resembling in vivo yeast cell walls
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Microscopy |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmicro/dfs076 |
| Field | Genetics and molecular biology |
| Keywords | cell-wall polysaccharides; self-assembly; yeast; fungi; Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Polysaccharides account for more than 90% of the content of fungal cell walls, but the mechanism underlying the formation of the architecture of the cell walls, which consist of microfibrils embedded in an amorphous wall matrix, remains unknown. We used electron microscopy to investigate ten different fungal cell-wall polysaccharides to determine whether they could self-assemble into the fibrillar or amorphous component of fungal cell walls in a test tube without enzymes. The ultrastructures formed by precipitating beta-1,3-glucan and beta-1,6-glucan are different depending on the existence of branching in the molecule. Linear beta-1,3- glucan and linear beta-1,6-glucan precipitate into a fibrillar ultrastructure. Branched beta-1,6-glucan, mannan and glycogen precipitates are amorphous. Branched beta-1,3-glucan forms a fibrillar plus amorphous ultrastructure. Self-assembly among combinations of different linear and branched cellwall polysaccharides results in an ultrastructure that resembles that of a yeast cell wall, which suggests that self-assembly of polysaccharides may participate in the development of the three-dimensional architecture of the yeast cell wall. |