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Updated: May 11, 2026

Structural Characterization of Mannan Cell Wall Polysaccharides in Plants Using PACE
Published on: October 16, 2017
Mathematical model of fructan biosynthesis and polymer length distribution in plants
Susanne Rasmussen1, John H M Thornley, Anthony J Parsons
1AgResearch Grasslands, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Background And Aims:
There are many unresolved issues concerning the biochemistry of fructan biosynthesis. The aim of this paper is to address some of these by means of modelling mathematically the biochemical processes.
Methods:
A model has been constructed for the step-by-step synthesis of fructan polymers. This is run until a steady state is achieved for which a polymer distribution is predicted. It is shown how qualitatively different distributions can be obtained.
Key Results:
It is demonstrated how a set of experimental results on polymer distribution can by simulated by a simple parameter adjustments.
Conclusions:
Mathematical modelling of fructan biosynthesis can provide a useful tool for helping elucidate the details of the biosynthetic processes.
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