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New complex carbohydrate discovered in barley
University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a new complex carbohydrate in barley. The first of its kind to be discovered in over 30 years, the cereal polysaccharide has potential applications in food, medicine and cosmetics.
[...] The new polysaccharide is a mix of glucose, commonly found in cellulose, and xylose, which is found in dietary fibre. Based on the relative proportions of each sugar, the hybrid polysaccharide has the potential to behave as a structural component of the wall providing strength or conversely as a viscous gel.
Further research is required to understand the new polysaccharide's potential uses. Existing polysaccharides have a wide range of uses. They improve the quality of dietary fibre in porridge and are also used extensively in biomedical and cosmetic applications.
"The properties of the new polysaccharide could be manipulated to suit the desired function, increasing the range of potential uses," says Dr Little. "The genes involved in the biosynthesis of the new polysaccharide were also discovered as part of this work. The same genes can be found in all major cereal crops – not just barley. We can now use this knowledge to find ways of increasing these polysaccharides in crops, providing the possibility of generating plant material with a range of potentially different physical properties for industrial applications."
A Novel (1,4)-β-Linked Glucoxylan Is Synthesized by Members of the Cellulose Synthase-Like F Gene Family in Land Plants (open, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00568) (DX)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:15AM (4 children)
Finding something new in one of the oldest, most studied crops really drives home the point that we really don't know shit. It is hard to put your faith in anyone who speaks authoritatively on a subject when things like this keep popping up. I fault none of the scientists, except the ones who don't acknowledge that the world is really really complex and pretend to know it all.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 13 2019, @07:30AM (3 children)
Humility. A number of people have stated, in different ways, the idea that wisdom begins when you admit how ignorant you are.
Studies are linked to here, all the time. Those that say "the study suggests" are usually cool. Others - primarily the climate change people, but there are others - who emphatically claim their study to "prove" something are just idiots.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @07:55AM
Researchers often write "suggests", but try this: Look in their paper for where they describe what was published previously and it will be stated with all the confidence in the world. Then if you go to that paper you will see they wrote "suggests", and confidently cited the people before them, etc.
It is just lip-service, it isn't how your average researcher actually thinks. They think "statistically significant and passed peer review" = "real". Sometimes you can even just read their interviews with the press and see they don't believe their conclusion was actually only "suggested".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:00AM
Wow, what an idiot.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:00PM
So by that logic you are one of the dumbest people around here since you spout garbage with absolute confidence and double down when shown to be wrong. I don't expect you to have some brilliant realization just yet, but let your own words sink in.