The use of glycoinformatics in glycochemistry

• Thomas Lütteke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 915–929, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.104

• Thomas Lutteke Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Institute of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, Frankfurter Str. 100, 35392 Gießen, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.8.104 Abstract Glycoinformatics is a small but growing branch of bioinformatics and chemoinformatics. Various resources are now available

• aid with quality control. Specific problems of glycoinformatics compared to bioinformatics for genomics or proteomics, especially concerning integration and long-term maintenance of the existing glycan databases, are also discussed. Keywords: carbohydrates; databases; glycomics; software

• . Classical bioinformatics algorithms are developed for linear gene or protein sequences, and thus cannot be applied to branched carbohydrates. Instead, new algorithms that deal with the branching as well as with other special features of carbohydrates, such as microheterogeneity, have to be developed [6][7