The molecule laminarin (also known as laminaran) is a storage
glucan (a
polysaccharide of
glucose) found in
brown algae. It is used as a carbohydrate food reserve in the same way that
chrysolaminarin is used by
phytoplankton, especially in
diatoms.[1] It is created by
photosynthesis and is made up of β(1→3)-glucan with β(1→6)-branches. It is a linear polysaccharide, with a β(1→3):β(1→6) ratio of 3:1.[2] Its hydrolysis is catalyzed by enzymes such as
laminarinase (EC 3.2.1.6) that breaks the β(1→3) bonds.[3] It has been suggested that the annual production of algae laminarin amounts to 12 ± 8 gigatons, i.e., about three times the annual atmospheric CO2 increase by
fossil fuel burning, that its concentration is driven by light variability and that it contributes substantially to the carbon export from surface waters, as it may account for up to half of organic carbon in sinking diatom-containing particles.[4]
^Nisizawa K, Yamaguchi T, Handa N, Maeda M, Yamazaki H (November 1963). "Chemical nature of a uronic acid-containing polysaccharide in the peritrophic membrane of the silkworm". Journal of Biochemistry. 54 (5). Japan: Oxford University Press for Japanese Biochemical Society: 419–426.
doi:
10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a127808.
ISSN0021-924X.
PMID14089735.