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Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 15, 121–123 (1 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/nsmb0208-121

Stop and go: regulation of chain length in the biosynthesis of bacterial polysaccharides

Chris Whitfield & Kane Larue

Investigation of surface polysaccharides and their assembly has been motivated by the importance of these structures in the biology of diverse organisms and, in particular, their association with bacterial virulence. However, the fundamental challenges of assembling complex glycoconjugates and exporting them across biological membranes are shared by prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and conserved themes can be recognized in these processes.