Structural Characterization of Physiologically Active Polysaccharides from Natural Products (Arabidopsis)

To determine the functions of specific cell wall polysaccharides, polysaccharides of three mutants, mur3-1, mur3-2, and mur3-3, obtained from Arabidopsis wild type, underwent structural characterization. Upon sequential separation of pectins (RG-I and RG-II) and cross-linking glycans (xyloglucan, XG), only XG was affected by the mud mutation. Wild-type XG contained a considerable amount of fucose, whereas the fucose level in mur3 XGs was less than 20% that of wild type. Further analysis of XGs by matrix-assisted laser-induced/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry indicated that mud lines considerably or completely lost the fucosylated XG oligosaccharides such as XXFG and XLFG and the double-galactosylated oligosaccharide XLLG $^1H$-NMR spectroscopic analyses of the XG oligosaccharides from mur3-3 plant revealed the absence of fucose and a galactose level in the galactosylated side chain that was reduced by 40% compared to that of Arabidopsis wild-type plant. In contrast, 85% less fucose and a slight loss of galactose were observed in the mur3-1 and mur3-2 lines which show normal growth habit. Of the three Arabidopsis mur3 lines studied here, mur3-3 is disrupted by a T-DNA insertion in the exon of MUR3 which encodes XG-specific galactosyltransferase, and exhibits slight dwarfism. These results indicated that the T-DNA insertion at the MUR3 locus did not induce the complete loss of galactose in XG, and that galactose, rather than fucose, in the XG side chains made a major contribution to overall wall strength.