Complex carbohydrates in shell precursor globules of the vitellarium and at the eggshell of Hymenolepis microstoma (Cestoda).

The vitellocytes of Hymenolepis microstoma contain protein globules as building material for the shell of egg cocoons. Complex carbohydrates were detected as an additive component, dispersed in the matrix of the shell globules. Similar glycans were found at newly formed shells, suggesting that these molecules are provided by the vitellocytes. The glycans remained associated with the surface of mature eggs. Carbohydrate residues, characterized using gold-labeled lectins, were N-acetylglucosamine, galactose, or the N-acetyllactosamine sequence of these residues and N-acetylgalactosamine, whereas glucose, mannose, and fucose were not demonstrable. The glycans scarcely stained with periodic acid-Schiff and, thus, seem to have few diols, and they did not bind cationic dye, indicating that they are not glycosaminoglycans. Since they occur in significant amounts, the glycans may have fundamental, as yet undetermined function(s) in the formation of the shells and/or interactions of the cocoons with the host.