Paramylon
Names
Other names
β-D-(1→3)-Glucan
Identifiers
Properties
(C6H10O5)n
Molar mass Variable
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Paramylon is a carbohydrate similar to starch. The chloroplasts found in Euglena contain chlorophyll which aids in the synthesis of carbohydrates to be stored as starch granules and paramylon. Paramylon is made in the pyrenoids of Euglena.[1] The euglenoids have chlorophylls a and b and they store their photosynthate in an unusual form called paramylon starch, a β-1,3 polymer of glucose. The paramylon is stored in rod like bodies throughout the cytoplasm, called paramylon bodies, which are often visible as colorless or white particles in light microscopy. Their shape is often characteristic of the Euglena species that produces them.[2]

Paramylon was named and first described in detail by Johann Gottlieb in 1850 based on Gottlieb's scientific exchange with Ludwig Karl Schmarda.[3]

References

  1. ^ Calvayrac, R. .; Laval-Martin, D. .; Briand, J. .; Farineau, J. . (1981). "Paramylon synthesis by Euglena gracilis photoheterotrophically grown under low O2 pressure". Planta. 153 (1): 6–13. doi:10.1007/BF00385311. PMID 24276700. S2CID 1981170.
  2. ^ Monfils, A. K.; Triemer, R. E.; Bellairs, E. F. (2011). "Characterization of paramylon morphological diversity in photosynthetic euglenoids (Euglenales, Euglenophyta)". Phycologia. 50 (2): 156. doi:10.2216/09-112.1. S2CID 85569364.
  3. ^ Professor J. Gottlieb (1850). "Ueber eine neue, mit Stärkmehl isomere Substanz". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 75 (1): 51–61. doi:10.1002/jlac.18500750105.
Category