title: Isolation and structural characterization of endo-rhamnogalacturonase-generated fragments of the backbone of rhamnogalacturonan I.
abstract: A combination of commercially available preparations of Aspergillus niger beta-D-galactosidase, endo-alpha-L-arabinanase, alpha-L-arabinosidase, and endo-beta-D-galactanase has been used to generate oligoglycosyl fragments of the backbone of rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) that had been isolated from the walls of suspension-cultured sycamore cells. The backbone-cleaving enzyme, which is present in the beta-D-galactosidase preparation, only fragments the RG-I backbone when many of the neutral oligoglycosyl side chains have been removed by the other exo- and endo- glycanases. The oligosaccharides released from the backbone were separated from the partially fragmented RG-I and then purified, as their oligoglycosyl aldonic acids, by HPAEC-PAD. Those backbone fragments with degrees of polymerization (dp's) between 2 and 11 were characterized using one- and two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy, electrospray mass spectrometry, and glycosyl-residue and glycosyl-linkage composition analyses. Two series of oligoglycosyl fragments were identified. The quantitatively predominant series has the structure alpha-D-GalpA-(1 --> 2)- alpha-L-Rhap-[ --> 4)-alpha-D-GalpA-(1 --> 2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1 --> ]n-4-D-GalpA, and the quantitatively minor series has the structure alpha-L-Rhap-[ --> 4)-alpha-D-GalpA-(1 --> 2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1 --> ]n-4-D- GalpA (n = 1-5). Thus, the enzyme preparations contain an alpha-L-rhamnosidase in addition to the endo- rhamnogalacturonase. The products of the endo-rhamnogalacturonase provide additional evidence that the backbone of RG-I is composed of the diglycosyl repeating unit: --> 4)-alpha-D-GalpA-(1 --> 2)-alpha-L-Rhap- (1 -->. The endo-rhamnogalacturonase from the A. niger beta-D-galactosidase preparation and the endo- rhamnogalacturonase secreted by Aspergillus aculeatus [H.A. Schols et al. Carbohydr. Res., 206 (1990) 117-129] have the same substrate specificities and generate similar oligoglycosyl fragments.
authors.affiliation: Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-4712.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Albersheim
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Darvill
mesh_terms: D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000201:enzymology; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D010368:Pectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D014197:Trees / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; C042491:rhamnogalacturonan I; D010368:Pectins; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; C067959:rhamnogalacturonase A