Chrysolaminarin

Chrysolaminarin is a linear polymer of β(1→3) linked glucose units^[1][2]. It used to be known as leucosin. Chrysolaminarin is arguably one of the most common biopolymers in the world with cellulose being the other.

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Function

Chrysolaminarin is a storage polysaccharide typically found in photosynthetic heterokonts. It is used as a carbohydrate food reserve by phytoplankton such as Bacillariophyta (similar to the use of laminarin by brown algae) ^[3].

Chrysolaminarin is stored inside the cells of these organisms dissolved in water and encapsuled in vacuoles whose refractive index increases with chrysolaminarin content. In addition, heterokont algae use oil as a storage compound. Besides energy reserve, oil helps the algae to control their buoyancy ^[4].

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