CarbBuilder: Software for building molecular models of complex oligo- and polysaccharide structures

J Comput Chem. 2016 Aug 15;37(22):2098-105. doi: 10.1002/jcc.24428. Epub 2016 Jun 18.

Abstract

CarbBuilder is a portable software tool for producing three-dimensional molecular models of carbohydrates from the simple text specification of a primary structure. CarbBuilder can generate a wide variety of carbohydrate structures, ranging from monosaccharides to large, branched polysaccharides. Version 2.0 of the software, described in this article, supports monosaccharides of both mammalian and bacterial origin and a range of substituents for derivatization of individual sugar residues. This improved version has a sophisticated building algorithm to explore the range of possible conformations for a specified carbohydrate molecule. Illustrative examples of models of complex polysaccharides produced by CarbBuilder demonstrate the capabilities of the software. CarbBuilder is freely available under the Artistic License 2.0 from https://people.cs.uct.ac.za/~mkuttel/Downloads.html. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: 3D model; C. Albicans; Shigella flexneri; carbohydrate; polysaccharide conformation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't