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Glycolipids represent a major but often neglected fraction of glycoconjugates in all domains of life. The structural diversity of glycolipids is tremendous, as much at the level of the glycan as at the level of the lipid moiety. Different types of lipids are glycosylated in animals, plants and bacteria. Glycerolipids abound as glycan-carriers in the membranes of photosynthetic structures in plants, algae and bacteria. Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol and digalactosyldiacylglycerol are the most common structures in this class of glycolipids. In gram-negative bacteria, a complex lipid structure called lipid A carries heterogeneous and diverse glycan chains, thereby building lipopolysaccharides (see chapter on bacterial glycosylation). In animals, the class of glycosphingolipids dominates, which is based on N-acylsphingoid lipid, also called ceramide.
FIG: GLYCOLIPID CLASSES
