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Glycobiology Advance Access published online on October 6, 2004
Glycobiology, doi:10.1093/glycob/cwi002
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Received August 2, 2004
Revised September 26, 2004
Accepted October 1, 2004

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

The structure of cell-wall {alpha}-glucan from fission yeast

Christian H. Grün 1, Frans Hochstenbach 2*, Bruno M. Humbel 3, Arie J. Verkleij 3, J. Hans Sietsma 4, Frans M. Klis 5, Johannis P. Kamerling 1, and Johannes F. G. Vliegenthart 1

1 Bijvoet Center, Department of Bio-Organic Chemistry, Section of Glycoscience and Biocatalysis, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
2 Department of Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Biomembranes, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
4 Laboratory for Molecular Biology of Plants, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9715 NN Haren, The Netherlands
5 Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: f.hochstenbach{at}amc.uva.nl.


  Abstract

Morphology and structural integrity of fungal cells depend on cell-wall polysaccharides. The chemical structure and biosynthesis of two types of these polysaccharides, chitin and (1->3)-{beta}-glucan, have been studied extensively, whereas little is known about {alpha}-glucan. Here, we describe the chemical structure of {alpha}-glucan isolated from wild-type and mutant cell walls of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Wild-type {alpha}-glucan was found to consist of a single population of linear glucose polymers, approximately 260 residues in length. These glucose polymers were composed of two interconnected linear chains, each consisting of approximately 120 (1->3)-linked {alpha}-D-glucose residues and some (1->4)-linked {alpha}-D-glucose residues at the reducing end. By contrast, {alpha}-glucan of an {alpha}-glucan synthase mutant with an aberrant cell morphology and with reduced {alpha}-glucan levels consisted of a single chain only. We propose that {alpha}-glucan biosynthesis involves an ordered series of events, whereby two {alpha}-glucan chains are coupled to create mature cell-wall {alpha}-glucan. This mature form of cell-wall {alpha}-glucan is essential for fission-yeast morphogenesis.

Keywords: {alpha}-glucan; cell wall; fission yeast; morphogenesis; polysaccharides.
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