Visualisation of Xanthan Conformation by Atomic Force Microscopy

For the research for this article a NanoWorld Arrow-UHFAuD AFM probe was used. Click here to view the full publication: Visualisation of xanthan conformation by atomic force microscopy

Fig. 1. Early stage images of xanthan on mica in aqueous buffer. (a) Method 1, drop-deposited, imaged in buffer 1. (b) Method 2, in-situ adsorbed from and imaged in buffer 2. Bottom panels: Line profiles depict the heights of the features beneath the white lines in the images.
Fig. 1.
Early stage images of xanthan on mica in aqueous buffer. (a) Method 1, drop-deposited, imaged in buffer 1. (b) Method 2, in-situ adsorbed from and imaged in buffer 2. Bottom panels: Line profiles depict the heights of the features beneath the white lines in the images.
  • Jonathan Moffat et. al. , Visualisation of xanthan conformation by atomic force microscopy, Carbohydrate Polymers, 148 (2016), pp 380–389

    Abstract

    Direct visual evidence obtained by atomic force microscopy demonstrates that when xanthan is adsorbed from aqueous solution onto the heterogeneously charged substrate mica, its helical conformation is distorted. Following adsorption it requires annealing for several hours to restore its ordered helical state. Once the helix state reforms, the AFM images obtained showed clear resolution of the periodicity with a value of 4.7 nm consistent with the previously predicted models. In addition, the images also reveal evidence that the helix is formed by a double strand, a clarification of an ambiguity of the xanthan ultrastructure that has been outstanding for many years.

    Open Access funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Under a Creative Commons license