Updates to the Symbol Nomenclature for Glycans guidelines

Abstract

The Symbol Nomenclature for Glycans (SNFG) is a community-curated standard for the depiction of monosaccharides and complex glycans using various colored-coded, geometric shapes, along with defined text additions. It is hosted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the NCBI-Glycans Page (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/glycans/snfg.html). Several changes have been made to the SNFG page in the past year to update the rules for depicting glycans using the SNFG, to include more examples of use, particularly for non-mammalian organisms, and to provide guidelines for the depiction of ambiguous glycan structures. This Glycoforum article summarizes these recent changes.