Campylobacter sugars sticking out

The amazing repertoire of glycoconjugates that are found in Campylobacter jejuni includes lipooligosaccharides mimicking human glycolipids, capsular polysaccharides with complex and unusual sugars, and proteins that are post-translationally modified with either O- or N-linked glycans. Thus, the glycome of this important food-borne pathogen is an excellent toolbox for glycobiologists to understand the fundamentals of these pathways and their role in host–microbe interactions, develop new techniques for glycobiology and exploit these pathways for novel diagnostics and therapeutics. The exciting surge in recent research activities will be summarized in this review.