LABORATORY of CHEMISTRY of CARBOHYDRATES and LIPIDS

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The head, docent Nadezhda Komandrova


Carbohydrates and lipids as well as proteins and nucleic acids are the most important chemical components of living systems. They are the basis of many living organisms, they supply energy and are precursors for biochemical synthesis, including biologically active substances. The main biological matters for the laboratory are marine organisms, first of all, bacteria and algae. 
Both microorganisms and macrophitic algae are the important component of marine ecosystems and possess a wide spectrum of physiological adaptable mechanisms. 
The chemical structure of the carbohydrate moiety of the marine gram-negative bacteria lipopolysachharides is highly diverse and includes an ever-extending number of rare and unusual monosaccharides and non-carbohydrate substituents. A comparative study of lipopolysachharides primary structure is important for understanding the chemical modifications of the cell envelope to reinforce the external membrane and to ensure their survival. 
Lipids of macrophytic and micro algae attract more and more attention as biologically active substances and components of fuel. 

The main goals:

• Structural elucidation of bioglycans of Gram-negative bacteria from marine environment (polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, exopolysaccharides) and investigation of their biological properties.

• Investigation of low-molecular bioregulators of marine macro-organisms and fungi (fatty acids, phospholipids)

The work is perfomed by coordination between two groups of Lab:
“B-group” – study of bioglycans of marine bacteria (isolation, structure and biological activity) 
“L-group” – lipid investigation (isolation, identification and investigation of biological activity) 

Main results:
The structures more than 50 new O-specific polysaccharide from lipopolysaccharides of marine microorganisms of different genera and families were established. The polysaccharides are distinguished by the acidic character (e.g., due to the presence of hexuronic and aldulosonic acids and their derivatives) and the occurrence of unusual sugars, including N-acyl derivatives of 6-deoxyamino sugars, such as N-acetyl-D-quinovosamine, N-acetyl-L-fucosamine and N-acetyl-6-deoxy-L-talosamine, and higher sugars like 2,6-dideoxy-2-acetamido-4-C-(3´-carboxamide-2´,2´-dihydroxypropyl)-D-alactopyranose (shewanellose). Many constituent sugars have various uncommon non-sugar substituents, such as alanine, formic, lactic and hydroxybutyric acids, sulfate and phosphate groups etc.

Lab staff:
Svetlana Tomshich (senior researcher, Ph.D/B-group), Maxim Kokoulin (Ph.D /B-group), Svetlana Isay (senior researcher, Ph.D/L-group), Andrey Esipov (junior researcher/L-group), Nataliya Busarova (chief engineer/E-group)
Яндекс.Метрика