Most bacterial glycans are associated with the cell envelopes and many provide the immediate point of contact with the environment. As a result, they contribute to the essential permeability barrier properties of the cell envelope, they play pivotal roles in protecting pathogenic bacteria from host defenses, they are important in symbioses, and they provide receptors for bacteriophages. Reflecting selective pressures imparted by these interactions, the structures of bacterial glycoconjugates are remarkably diverse with extensive variations between species and even within isolates of the same species.
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