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Characterization of glycogens from mycobacteria

1969; Elsevier BV; Volume: 134; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0003-9861(69)90267-7

1096-0384

Alan D. Antoine, Byron S. Tepper,

Biopolymer Synthesis and Applications

Glycogens from Mycobacterium phlei, M. smegmatis, and M. tuberculosis at various stages of cellular synthesis and degradation were isolated by a mild cold water procedure, purified and characterized. During glycogen synthesis and accumulation the degree of branching decreased and the outer branch length and the average sedimentation coefficient increased. As the glycogen was degraded by the cells, the degree of branching increased and the outer branch length and the average sedimentation coefficient decreased. At maximal glycogen content, M. phlei glycogen had a weight-average molecular weight of approximately 100 × 106. Although mycobacterial glycogens are not sufficiently constant in physical properties to be characterized by a single set of parameters, they are, in general, more highly branched, with shorter outer branches than previously characterized Ascaris muscle, tapeworm, and mammalian liver and muscle glycogens. Glycogens extracted from M. phlei exhibited sedimentation coefficient distributions indicating a continuum of molecular weights. In electron micrographs, the mycobacterial glycogens appear as particles ranging from 0.02 to 0.15 μ in diameter.