title: Electrophoretic behavior of copolymeric galacturonans including comments on the information content of the intermolecular charge distribution.
abstract: Capillary electrophoresis has been used to characterize samples of the copolymeric anionic polysaccharides homo- and rhamno-galacturonan (HG and RGI, respectively). In the case of HG, the ratios of the two component sugar residues, galacturonic acid and its methylesterified analogue, have been controlled chemically to produce samples comprised of varying degrees of methylesterification (DM). The mapping of the measured electrophoretic mobilities to the biopolymer charge density has been considered in some detail and for HG substrates with random intramolecular patterns of methylesterification it is shown that the experimentally extracted intermolecular DM distribution agrees well with the predictions of calculations based on the binomial theorem. This demonstrates that the intermolecular distribution of the methylesterification of pectin samples contains information on the intramolecular pattern by virtue of the fact that they are both manifestations of the same statistical process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. m.williams@massey.ac.nz
authors.forename: Martin A K
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cucheval
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ström
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ralet
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D004951:Esterification; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010368:Pectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D010368:Pectins; C003181:polygalacturonic acid