Synthetic fragments of plant polysaccharides as tools for cell wall biology

A sustainable bioeconomy that includes increased agricultural productivity and new technologies to convert renewable biomass to value-added products may help meet the demands of a growing world population for food, energy and materials. The potential use of plant biomass is determined by the properties of the cell walls, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, and the polyphenolic polymer lignin. Comprehensive knowledge of cell wall glycan structure and biosynthesis is therefore essential for optimal utilization. However, several areas of plant cell wall research are hampered by a lack of available pure oligosaccharide samples that represent structural features of cell wall glycans. Here, we provide an update on recent chemical syntheses of plant cell wall oligosaccharides and their application in characterizing plant cell wall-directed antibodies and carbohydrate-active enzymes including glycosyltransferases and glycosyl hydrolases, with a particular focus on glycan array technology.