Category: G
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Glyphosate oxidase
An enzyme that (via catalysis) chemically breaks down glyphosate (i.e., the active ingredient in some herbicides). Glyphosate oxidase is produced in nature by acclimated microorganisms. In 1988, Michael Heitkamp discovered a strain of Pseudomonas bacteria which possessed a gene (GO) that caused those particular Pseudomonas bacteria to produce unusually large amounts of glyphosate oxidase. That…
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Glyphosate isopropylamine salt
One of several forms of active ingredient utilized in some glyphosate-based herbicides.
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Glyphosate
An active ingredient in some herbicides, it kills plants (e.g., weeds) by inhibiting the crucial plant enzyme EPSP synthase. A water-soluble, broad spectrum herbicide commonly used in American agriculture. It is the active ingredient of several brand-name weed killers.
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Glycosidases
Enzymes that catalyze the cleavage (hydrolysis) of glycosidic molecular bonds. For example, lysozyme (an enzyme found in human tears) lyses (cuts up) certain bacteria by cleaving the (β configuration) giycosidic linkages (bonds) between the monosaccharide units that (when linked) comprise the polysaccharide component of the bacterial cell walls. A bacterial cell devoid of a cell…
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Glycoprotein remodeling
The use of restriction endoglycosidases to (enzymatically) remove sugar (i.e., oligosaccharide) “branches” from glycoprotein (i.e., part protein, part oligosaccharide) molecules. One reason to perform such glycoprotein remodeling would be to remove one or more oligosaccharide branches so that the glycoprotein is less or no longer antigenic (i.e., triggers an immune response). This allows the glycoprotein…
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Glycoform
One of several molecular arrangements that a given glycoprotein can possess [varieties are determined by the attachment of various oligosaccharide(s)]. Some glycoforms of a given glycoprotein may exhibit greater or lesser biological activity (e.g., pharmaceutical effectiveness for biotherapeutic glycoproteins) because the oligosaccharide units of the glycoprotein molecule mediate interactions of the glycoprotein with the cells…
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Glycocalyx
A polysaccharide matrix that is involved (in some microorganisms) in firm attachment of the organism to a solid surface. A thin layer of glycoprotein and oligosaccharides on the outer surface of cell membranes that contributes to cell adhesion and forms antigens involved in the recognition of “self.”
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Glycobiology
The study of the involvement (function) of sugars in biological processes.
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Glyceraldehyde (d- and L-)
One of the smallest monosaccharides, it is called an aldose because it contains an aldehyde group. Glyceraldehyde has a single asymmetric carbon atom, thus there are two stereoisomers (D-glyceraldehyde and L-glyceraldehyde).
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Glutathione
A tripeptide that is found in all cells of higher animals. Composed of the amino acids glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. The cysteine possesses a sulfhydryl group that makes glutathione a weak reducing agent. A tripeptide with a free sulfhydryl group that, in a reduced state, helps maintain iron in its appropriate oxidized state (ferrous)…