Lectin-microarray technique for glycomic profiling of fungal cell surfaces.

Lectin microarrays are rows of lectins with different carbohydrate-binding specificities spotted on surfaces of glass slides. Lectin microarray technique enables glycomic analyses of carbohydrate composition of fungal cell walls. We will describe an application of the technique in analyzing cell surface glycome of yeast-form fungal cells in the living state. The analysis reveals genus- and species-dependent complex cell surface carbohydrate structures of fungi, and enabled us, therefore, to suggest that cell walls of yeast cells, which have been considered to have relatively simple structures, actually have a more complex structure containing galactose and fucose. This shows that the technique can be used to find new insights into the study of phylogenetic relations and into the classification of cells in the fungal kingdom based on cell wall glycome.