D-阿拉伯糖,D-Arabinose

The aldopentose D-arabinose also known as aloinose, Aloe sugar, pectinose (Collins, 2006), is not as common in nature as its enantiomer L-arabinose. D-arabinose is a component of the polysaccharide in Aloe (Haynes, 1963) and is present in the unripe (green) tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (Chandra, 2009). The major cell wall carbohydrate of Corynebacterineae (a bacterial group that includes tuberculosis, leprosy and diphtheriae) is an arabinogalactan, a branched polysaccharide that is essential for the physiology of these bacteria. The arabinogalactan complex is often referred to as mycolyl-arabinogalactan-peptidoglycan complex. As arabinogalactan is made up of D-arabinofuranosyl and D-galactofuranosyl residues, a complete understanding of their biosynthethic pathways could provide suitable targets for new chemotherapeutics (Meniche, 2008).