Exploring the glycans of Euglena gracilis

Ellis C. O’Neill; Sakonwan Kuhaudomlarp; Martin Rejzek; Jonatan Ulrik Fangel; Kathirvel Alagesan; Daniel Kolarich; William George Tycho Willats; Robert A. Field

doi:10.3390/biology6040045

Exploring the glycans of Euglena gracilis

Ellis C. O’Neill^*, Sakonwan Kuhaudomlarp, Martin Rejzek, Jonatan Ulrik Fangel, Kathirvel Alagesan, Daniel Kolarich, William George Tycho Willats, Robert A. Field

^*Corresponding author for this work

Section for Plant Glycobiology

15 Citations (Scopus)

68 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Euglena gracilis is an alga of great biotechnological interest and extensive metabolic capacity, able to make high levels of bioactive compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and β-glucan. Previous work has shown that Euglena expresses a wide range of carbohydrate-active enzymes, suggesting an unexpectedly high capacity for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates for a single-celled organism. Here, we present an analysis of some of the carbohydrates synthesised by Euglena gracilis. Analysis of the sugar nucleotide pool showed that there are the substrates necessary for synthesis of complex polysaccharides, including the unusual sugar galactofuranose. Lectin- and antibody-based profiling of whole cells and extracted carbohydrates revealed a complex galactan, xylan and aminosugar based surface. Protein N-glycan profiling, however, indicated that just simple high mannose-type glycans are present and that they are partially modified with putative aminoethylphosphonate moieties. Together, these data indicate that Euglena possesses a complex glycan surface, unrelated to plant cell walls, while its protein glycosylation is simple. Taken together, these findings suggest that Euglena gracilis may lend itself to the production of pharmaceutical glycoproteins.

Original language	English
Article number	45
Journal	Biology
Volume	6
Issue number	4
Number of pages	13
ISSN	2079-7737
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6040045
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

Algae
Biotechnology
Carbohydrates
Euglena
N-glycan
Sugar nucleotide

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title = "Exploring the glycans of Euglena gracilis",

abstract = "Euglena gracilis is an alga of great biotechnological interest and extensive metabolic capacity, able to make high levels of bioactive compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and β-glucan. Previous work has shown that Euglena expresses a wide range of carbohydrate-active enzymes, suggesting an unexpectedly high capacity for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates for a single-celled organism. Here, we present an analysis of some of the carbohydrates synthesised by Euglena gracilis. Analysis of the sugar nucleotide pool showed that there are the substrates necessary for synthesis of complex polysaccharides, including the unusual sugar galactofuranose. Lectin- and antibody-based profiling of whole cells and extracted carbohydrates revealed a complex galactan, xylan and aminosugar based surface. Protein N-glycan profiling, however, indicated that just simple high mannose-type glycans are present and that they are partially modified with putative aminoethylphosphonate moieties. Together, these data indicate that Euglena possesses a complex glycan surface, unrelated to plant cell walls, while its protein glycosylation is simple. Taken together, these findings suggest that Euglena gracilis may lend itself to the production of pharmaceutical glycoproteins.",

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author = "O{\textquoteright}Neill, {Ellis C.} and Sakonwan Kuhaudomlarp and Martin Rejzek and Fangel, {Jonatan Ulrik} and Kathirvel Alagesan and Daniel Kolarich and Willats, {William George Tycho} and Field, {Robert A.}",

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T1 - Exploring the glycans of Euglena gracilis

AU - O’Neill, Ellis C.

AU - Kuhaudomlarp, Sakonwan

AU - Rejzek, Martin

AU - Fangel, Jonatan Ulrik

AU - Alagesan, Kathirvel

AU - Kolarich, Daniel

AU - Willats, William George Tycho

AU - Field, Robert A.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Euglena gracilis is an alga of great biotechnological interest and extensive metabolic capacity, able to make high levels of bioactive compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and β-glucan. Previous work has shown that Euglena expresses a wide range of carbohydrate-active enzymes, suggesting an unexpectedly high capacity for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates for a single-celled organism. Here, we present an analysis of some of the carbohydrates synthesised by Euglena gracilis. Analysis of the sugar nucleotide pool showed that there are the substrates necessary for synthesis of complex polysaccharides, including the unusual sugar galactofuranose. Lectin- and antibody-based profiling of whole cells and extracted carbohydrates revealed a complex galactan, xylan and aminosugar based surface. Protein N-glycan profiling, however, indicated that just simple high mannose-type glycans are present and that they are partially modified with putative aminoethylphosphonate moieties. Together, these data indicate that Euglena possesses a complex glycan surface, unrelated to plant cell walls, while its protein glycosylation is simple. Taken together, these findings suggest that Euglena gracilis may lend itself to the production of pharmaceutical glycoproteins.

AB - Euglena gracilis is an alga of great biotechnological interest and extensive metabolic capacity, able to make high levels of bioactive compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and β-glucan. Previous work has shown that Euglena expresses a wide range of carbohydrate-active enzymes, suggesting an unexpectedly high capacity for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates for a single-celled organism. Here, we present an analysis of some of the carbohydrates synthesised by Euglena gracilis. Analysis of the sugar nucleotide pool showed that there are the substrates necessary for synthesis of complex polysaccharides, including the unusual sugar galactofuranose. Lectin- and antibody-based profiling of whole cells and extracted carbohydrates revealed a complex galactan, xylan and aminosugar based surface. Protein N-glycan profiling, however, indicated that just simple high mannose-type glycans are present and that they are partially modified with putative aminoethylphosphonate moieties. Together, these data indicate that Euglena possesses a complex glycan surface, unrelated to plant cell walls, while its protein glycosylation is simple. Taken together, these findings suggest that Euglena gracilis may lend itself to the production of pharmaceutical glycoproteins.

KW - Algae

KW - Biotechnology

KW - Carbohydrates

KW - Euglena

KW - N-glycan

KW - Sugar nucleotide

U2 - 10.3390/biology6040045

DO - 10.3390/biology6040045

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29244725

AN - SCOPUS:85040720562

SN - 2079-7737

VL - 6

JO - Biology

JF - Biology

IS - 4

M1 - 45

ER -

Exploring the glycans of Euglena gracilis

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Keywords

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