Polysaccharide structure and sequence determination

1. A method for the structural analysis of a saccharide, comprising:

a) providing on a surface a plurality of essentially sequence- and/or site-specific binding agents;

b) contacting said surface with a saccharide to be analyzed, or with a mixture comprising a plurality of fragments of said saccharide;

c) washing or otherwise removing unbound saccharide or saccharide fragments from said surface;

d) adding to the surface obtained in step c) an essentially sequence- and/or site-specific marker, or a mixture of essentially sequence- and/or site-specific markers;

e) acquiring one or more images of the markers that are bound to said surface; and

f) deriving information related to the identity of the saccharide being analyzed from said image.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the markers are chromogenic binding agents, and wherein the images of the markers are colors that develop on the surface.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein step f) comprises visual inspection of the surface and comparison with a standard.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein step f) comprises the use of optical filters.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein step e) comprises photographing and/or digitizing the image.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific binding agents are lectins.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific binding agents are antibodies.

8. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are colored lectins.

9. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are fluorescent lectins.

10. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are biotin-labeled lectins.

11. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are fluorescent antibodies.

12. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are biotin-labeled antibodies.

13. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the essentially sequence- and/or site-specific chromogenic binding agents are enzyme-labeled antibodies.

14. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising treating the saccharide with an essentially sequence-specific agent capable of cleaving the saccharide chain.

15. A method according to claim 14 , wherein the saccharide is treated before being contacted with the surface.

16. A method according to claim 14 , wherein the saccharide is treated after removal of unbound saccharide, but before adding the essentially sequence-specific chromogenic binding agents.

17. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the surface is a filter paper, and wherein the essentially sequence-specific agents are arranged in a pre-defined order on said filter paper.

18. A glycomolecule identity (GMID) card, listing saccharide structural analysis data obtained according to claim 17 .

19. The GMID card according to claim 18 , wherein the essentially sequence-specific reagents used are represented by code numbers.

20. The GMID card according claim 18 , wherein combinations of essentially sequence-specific reagents used in the analysis are represented by unique code numbers.