SAXS helps to determine a novel structure of GALS1

The presence of a carbohydrate-rich cell wall is a ubiquitous feature of all plants. While we are beginning to understand the composition and diversity of the polysaccharide components in these walls, little is known about the enzymes involved in their synthesis. By combing macromolecular X-ray crystallography together with solution X-ray scattering data collecting at beamline 12.3.1,  SIBYLS Scientist, Michal Hammel help researchers gain insight into the donor and acceptor substrate binding sites of the enzymatic mechanism of GalS1.  

These discoveries were published in Nature Plants in Feb 2023. You can read more about it here.

In the future, these structural studies may be used to develop targeted engineering strategies to modify enzymes such as GALS1 to enzymatically generate new saccharide structures.