Current Opinion on Protein-Carbohydrate Interactions in 2013.

The October issue of Current Opinion in Structural Biology is devoted to the fields of protein-carbohydrate interactions and biophysical methods. Seven articles cover the most recent elucidations and understanding of the complex "ballet" that carbohydrates and proteins display in complex scenes of recognition, assembling and disassembling, key features that underline the fundamental biological roles of carbohydrates.

• Cracking the code, slowly : the state of carbohydrate-active enzymes in 2013 (G. J. Davies, B. Henrissat)
• Multiple rewards from a treasure trove of novel glycoside hydrolase and polysaccharide lyase structures : new folds, mechanistic details, and evolutionary relationships (S. Fushinobu, V. D. Alves, P. M. Coutinho)
• Recent insights into copper-containing lytic polysaccharide mono-oxygenases, (G. R Hemsworth, G. J Davies, P. H. Walton)
• Advances in understanding the molecular basis of plant cell wall polysaccharide recognition by carbohydrate-binding modules (H.J. Gilbert, J. P. Knox, A.B. Boraston)
• Fungal lectins : structure, function and potential applications (A. Varrot, S.M. Basheer, A. Imberty)
• Insights into cellulosome assembly and dynamics : from dissection to reconstruction of the supramolecular enzyme complex (S.P. Smith, E.A. Bayer)
• Fortifying the wall : synthesis, regulation and degradation of bacterial peptidoglycan ( S. Sobhanifar, D.T. King, N. C.J. Strynadka)