Solution Conformations of Gellan Polysaccharide

This symposium communication deals with the influence exerted by guanidinium hydrochloride, urea, and sucrose, resp., on the stability of the ordered chain conformation that can be assumed by gellan chains in dil. aq. soln. Guanidinium hydrochloride and sucrose stabilize the ordered chain state of gellan, though with different mechanisms, and eventually lead to gel formation. In contrast, urea acts ad a typical denaturing agent favoring the randomly coiled state of gellan. Much less pronounced appears the influence of the same cosolutes on the soln. properties of branched polysaccharides structurally related to gellan. Indexing