Polysaccharide conformations measured by solution state X-ray scattering.

• Structure of key polysaccharides in solution to sub-Ångstrom accuracy. • Resolve the helical conformation of polysaccharides. • Directly reveal the flexibility of different glycosidic linkages. • Structural characterization of polymers which exhibit strong inter-particle effects that dominate other methods. Polysaccharides are semi-flexible polymers composed of sugar residues with a myriad of important functions including structural support and energy storage. The local conformation of such chains is a crucial factor governing their interactions. Traditionally this conformation has only been directly accessible in the solid-state, using crystallographic techniques such as fibre diffraction. Herein it is demonstrated that improvements in the quality of synchrotron-based X-ray scattering data means that conformation-dependent features, the positions of which are related to the linear repeating distance between single saccharide monomers, can now be measured in solution. This technique is expected to be universally applicable for polysaccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]