Oligosaccharides on the cell surface have been expected to be potential pharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals, however it has been very difficult to synthesize these oligosaccharides. Recently, identification of the genes of glycosyltransferases in bacteria and expression of the genes in Escherichia coli enabled the mass production of glycosyltransferases for enzymatic synthesis of oligosaccharides. In addition, sugar nucleotides, donor substrates of glycosyltransferases, could be produced using genetically engineered bacteria. With the improvements in the supply of glycosyltransferases and sugar nucleotides, it became possible to produce oligosaccharides in large-scale.
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