Purification and Properties of Glycogen Isolated from a Blue-Green Alga, Nostoc muscorum

Alpha granules were isolated from a blue-green alga, Nostoc muscorum, in large quantities and high purity by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Sodium deoxycholate was used to eliminate membrane contamination. Isolated α granules from this species have average dimension of 31 nm in width and 65 nm in length. Each α granule consists of two equal parts. Attempts to dissociate the intact granule under mild conditions into relatively large subunits did not succeed. Analytical centrifugation of the α granules yields a sedimentation coefficient of 265S (S20, w). Chemical analysis reveals that α granules contain highly branched polyglucosyl units with short external chain lengths.

[1]  N. J. Lang.  The fine structure of blue-green algae. , 1968, Annual review of microbiology.

[2]  O. H. Lowry,et al.  Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. , 1951, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[3]  E. Chargaff,et al.  ON BACTERIAL GLYCOGEN: THE ISOLATION FROM AVIAN TUBERCLE BACILLI OF A POLYGLUCOSAN OF VERY HIGH PARTICLE WEIGHT , 1944 .

[4]  N. Madsen,et al.  The binding of glycogen and phosphorylase. , 1958, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[5]  S. Chu.  The Influence of the Mineral Composition of the Medium on the Growth of Planktonic Algae: Part II. The Influence of the Concentration of Inorganic Nitrogen and Phosphate Phosphorus , 1943 .

[6]  Norton Nelson,et al.  A PHOTOMETRIC ADAPTATION OF THE SOMOGYI METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF GLUCOSE , 1944 .

[7]  Russell J. Barrnett,et al.  Cytochemistry and electron microscopy. The preservation of cellular ultrastructure and enzymatic activity by aldehyde fixation. , 1963 .

[8]  W. Whelan,et al.  The mechanism of carbohydrase action. 5. Action of human salivary alpha-amylase on amylopectin and glycogen. , 1960, The Biochemical journal.

[9]  R. M. Giesy.  A LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY OF INTERLAMELLAR POLYGLUCOSIDE BODIES IN OSCILLATORIA CHALYBIA , 1964 .

[10]  E. Maugini.  Cytological Site of Glycogen in Nostoc Commune Vaucher , 1967 .

[11]  P. Drochmans.  Morphologie du glycogène: Etude au microscope électronique de colorations négatives du glycogène particulaire , 1962 .

[12]  W. Z. Hassid,et al.  [methods in enzymology] methods in enzymology volume 3 volume 3 || [7] chemical procedures for analysis of polysaccharides , 1957 .

[13]  M. Schramm,et al.  α-Amylase limit dextrins of high molecular weight obtained from glycogen , 1964 .

[14]  R. Horne,et al.  A negative staining method for high resolution electron microscopy of viruses. , 1959, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[15]  C. C. Bowen,et al.  CYTOLOGY OF BLUE‐GREEN ALGAE. I. THE CELLS OF SYMPLOCA MUSCORUM , 1963 .

[16]  C. Krisman.  A method for the colorimetric estimation of glycogen with iodine. , 1962, Analytical biochemistry.

[17]  W. Menke.  Über das Lamellarsystem des Chromatoplasmas von Cyanophyceen , 1961 .

[18]  H. Ris,et al.  ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES ON BLUE-GREEN ALGAE , 1961, The Journal of biophysical and biochemical cytology.

[19]  E. Dawes,et al.  Factors influencing the polysaccharide content of Escherichia coli. , 1949, The Biochemical journal.

[20]  E. Hehre,et al.  The Conversion of Sucrose to a Polysaccharide of the Starch-Glycogen Class by Neisseria from the Pharynx , 1948, Journal of bacteriology.

[21]  B. Gaillard.  [Paper chromatography of sugars]. , 1953, Pharmaceutisch weekblad.

[22]  J. F. Fredrick.  Preliminary Studies on the Synthesis of Polysaccharides in the Algae , 1951 .