Gentiobiose is a rare disaccharide composed of two units of D-glucose joined with a beta (1->6) linkage. It occurs in living systems which use it both structurally and as energy source. Gentiobiose was first isolated from gentian roots and was shown to be involved in signaling pathways of the plant. Gentiobiose is incorporated into the chemical structure of crocin the chemical compound that gives saffron its color and that have shown potential anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic effects. Gentiobiose serves as a growth substrate and is a constituent of cell wall and deoxyribonucleic acid in microorganisms. Gentiobiose was found to be a specific substrate of β-glucosidase BglH from Aspergillus fungi which preferentially hydrolyzed gentiobiose rather than other oligosaccharides. Gentiobiose was used to study binding of V3-7Sh sIgM to zymosan while investigating a class of common pathogens as functional ligands for a subset of somatically mutated human B cell lymphomas. It was also used in binding assays to determine if coelomic cytolytic factor 1 (CCF-1) binds to β-1,3-glucans to stimulate the pro-PO-activating system.