Glycolipids are carbohydrate-attached lipids. Their role is to provide energy and also serve as markers for cellular recognition. They occur where a carbohydrate chain is associated with phospholipids on the exoplasmic surface of the cell membrane. The carbohydrates are found on the outer surface of all eukaryotic cell membranes. They extend from the phospholipid bilayer into the aqueous environment outside the cell where it acts as a recognition site for specific chemicals as well as helping to maintain the stability of the membrane and attaching cells to one another to form tissues. This new book focuses on recent research results from around the world.
Sugar chains (glycans) are often attached to proteins and lipids and have multiple roles in the organization and function of all organisms. "Essentials of Glycobiology" describes their biogenesis and function and offers a useful gateway to the understanding of glycans.
This book presents in an easy-to-read format a summary of the important central aspects of microbial glycobiology, i.e. the study of carbohydrates as related to the biology of microorganisms. Microbial glycobiology represents a multidisciplinary and emerging area with implications for a range of basic and applied research fields, as well as having industrial, medical and biotechnological implications. - Individual chapters provided by leading international scientists in the field yield insightful, concise and stimulating reviews - Provides researchers with an overview and synthesis of the latest research - Each chapter begins with a brief 200 word Summary/Abstract detailing the topic and focus of the chapter, as well as the concepts to be addressed - Allows researchers to see at a glance what each chapter will cover - Each chapter includes a Research Focus Box - Identifies important problems that still need to be solved and areas that require further investigation
Although a few books covering primarily serological aspects of human blood groups are available, it became clear to me in the course of my research that no compendium of the non-serological aspects of human blood group systems exists. This book has been written to facilitate access to the vast number of publications scattered throughout the literature in both chemical and medical journals on the chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology of blood groups. It is designed as a concise survey for use by blood bankers and researchers in biochemistry, blood group serology, immunohaemotology, forensic medicine, population genetics, and anthropology; the text is supplemented by numerous illustrations and tables. This volume encompasses the entire field of blood group serology and provides a comprehensive survey of present knowledge in the field. The serological aspects have been kept to a minimum. I have emphasised the chemical, biochemical and molecular genetic basis of blood group specificity and given full consideration to molecular biology investigations, in particular to those on the structure of blood group genes and the structural basis of alleles and rare blood group variants. The book covers the latest developments in research and discusses literature up to the beginning of 1995.
The early history and development of the field of glycolipids was concerned mainly with the predominant glycolipids found in higher animal tissues, namely the glycosphingolipids, as has been extensively documented by J. N. Kanfer and S. Hakomori in Volume 3 of this series. The major glycolipids in organisms of the plant kingdom, however, such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi, algae, and higher plants, are glycoglycerolipids, although glycosphingolipids are also present as minor components in these organisms, except for bacteria. It is of interest that one of the pioneers in glycosphingolipid research, Herbert E. Carter, also pioneered the discovery and structural elucidation of the plant galactosyldiacylglycerols. This class of glycolipids is present in chlo roplast membranes and must surely be one of the most ubiquitous and abun dant natural substances in the world, thereby deserving the attention of lipid biochemists. It is therefore surprising to learn that in contrast to the glycosphingolipids, which were discovered in the 1870s, glycoglycerolipids were not discovered until the 1950s. Since that time investigations of the structure and distribution of these glycolipids have proceeded at an exponen tially increasing rate, and much information is now available for representa tives of many genera of bacteria, yeasts, algae, and higher plants. Glycoglyce rolipids have also been identified in animal cells, particularly in the brain, testes, and sperm.
As a reflection of the quantum leap that has been made in the study of glycostructures, the first edition of this book has been completely revised and updated. The editors give up-to-date information on glycostructures, their chemistry and chemical biology in the form of a completely comprehensive survey. Glycostructures play highly diverse and crucial roles in a myriad of organisms and important systems in biology, physiology, medicine, bioengineering and technology. Only in recent years have the tools been developed to partly understand the highly complex functions and the chemistry behind them. While many facts remain undiscovered, this MRW has been contributed to by a large number of the world’s leading researchers in the field.
This book summarizes recent advances in understanding the functions of plant and algal lipids in photosynthesis, in development and signaling, and in industrial applications. As readers will discover, biochemistry, enzymology and analytical chemistry, as well as gene knock-out studies have all contributed to our rapidly increasing understanding of the functions of lipids. In the past few decades, distinct physical and biochemical properties of specific lipid classes were revealed in plant and algal lipids and the functional aspects of lipids in modulating critical biological processes have been uncovered. These chapters from international authors across relevant research fields highlight the underlying evolutionary context of lipid function in photosynthetic unicellular and multicellular organisms. The book goes on to encompass what lipids can do for industrial applications at a time of fascination with plants and algae in carbon fixation and as sources for production of food, energy and novel chemicals. The developmental context is a part of the fresh and engaging perspective that is presented in this work which graduate students and scientists will find both illuminating and useful.
This detailed volume presents a variety of specialized analytical methods on a wide range of glycolipids. From sphingoglycolipids to lipid A, an immune system stimulant present in lipopolysaccharide, the book delves into how glycolipid structure on the surface of the cell membrane, which characterizes each organism, is crucial for the coexistence or repulsion between organisms. In addition, glycolipids play an important role in infections in animals and other organisms by targeting host cell membranes, if enveloped viruses are considered as living organisms. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introduction to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, as well as tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Glycolipids: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal guide to the most advanced glycolipid research in an effort to help researchers make their research more fruitful.
