Biopolymers and cell. 1995; 11 (3-4): 88 - 95

THE STRUCTURAL FEATURES AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF CANDIDA SPEC. YEAST MANNANS

A. G. Kovalenko, A. S.. Shashkov, B. N. Vasiljev, T. A. Telegeeva

The structural peculiarities of mannanes, produced by three representatives of Candida sp. were studied by methods of methylation, periodic oxydation (degradation by Smith) and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. It had been shown that mannan from C. tropicalis exhibits the chained polymer in which mannopyranosyl residues are linked by a(1^2), a(l->-3)- and a(l->6)-gIycosyl bonds. The analogous bonds were detected in other mannans from Candida. The periodic oxydation leads to full or partial degradation of carbon chains and loss of mannan antiviral activity. It had been stated that the biological activity of man¬ nanes depends on their chemical structure, especially the chain branching, presence of a (l-<"2)- and a (l->2) a (1-M5)-linked mannopyranosa with OH-groups at 3 and 4 car¬ bon atoms