title: Characterization of oligosaccharides in milk of a mink, Mustela vison.
abstract: Carbohydrates were extracted from a sample of milk from a mink, Mustela vison (Family Mustelidae). Free neutral and acidic oligosaccharides were isolated from the carbohydrate fraction and their chemical structures were compared with those of white-nosed coati (Nasua narica, Procyonidae) and harbour seal (Phoca vitulina, Phocidae) that we had studied previously. The ratio of free lactose to milk oligosaccharides was similar to that in milk of the white-nosed coati; in both species, this ratio was much lower than that in the milk of most eutherians. The neutral oligosaccharides of mink milk had alpha(1-3)-linked Gal or alpha(1-2)-linked Fuc residues at their non-reducing ends, as in the neutral oligosaccharides of white-nosed coati milk. Some of the neutral and acidic oligosaccharides, determined here, had been found also in harbour seal milk, but the harbour seal oligosaccharides did not contain alpha(1-3)-linked Gal residues.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Hood Hydiene, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan. urashima@obihiro.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tadasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Urashima
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Sadaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asakuma
authors.forename: Ikichi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Olav T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Oftedal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007785:Lactose / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D008907:Mink; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012015:Reference Standards; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D007785:Lactose