| Abstract | This chapter discusses the chemical structures of the polysaccharides of fungi and lichens investigated from 1967 to the middle of 1980. It is convenient to group the polysaccharides in terms of their chemical structures, according to the nature of the component sugars, the predominant linkage and configuration, and, in the case of heteropolymers, the nature of the main chain. The cell walls of Fusicoccum amygdali are stained blue with iodine and attacked by alpha amylase. Extracts of Sporothrix schenckii and Ceratocystis stenoceras contain 4-O-substituted D-glucopyranosyl units and the solutions give a blue color with iodine. Glycogens have been isolated from Candida albicans, Blastocladiella emersonii, Neurospora crassa, Allomyces macrogynus, Rhizophydium sphaerotheca, and Monoblepharella elongata. They have β-amylolysis values of 45–45% and average chain-length (x) values of 11–14 D-glucosyl units. This chapter briefly discusses about glucans including pseudonigeran, pullulan, cellulose etc; mannans including linear mannans etc; galactans; and heteropolysaccharides based on D-mannan main-chains and galactan main-chains. |
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