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Updated: Feb 18, 2026

Profiling of Permethylated Mucin O-glycans Using Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 20, 2025
Analysis of methylated and unmethylated polygalacturonic acid structure by polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate
Florence Goubet1, Brooke Morriswood, Paul Dupree
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Building O, Downing Site, Cambridge CB2 1QW, UK.
Abstract:
The electrophoretic migration in polyacrylamide gels of oligogalacturonic acids (OGAs) derivatized by a fluorophore (2-aminoacridone) was studied. We found conditions such that OGAs can be separated up to a degree of polymerization (DP) of 40. The migration was dependent on degree of methylation and DP, because the OGA mobility relies on the charge of the galacturonic acid residues. Since both methylated and unmethylated oligosaccharides can be resolved, polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis (PACE) is a powerful method for studying the fingerprint of pectin hydrolysis. It can be used to characterize endopolygalacturonase (Endo-PG) tolerance of methylation. Furthermore, using an Endo-PG that can distinguish low and highly methylated pectin, PACE can be used to investigate the blockwise or nonblockwise distribution of methylation of polygalacturonic acid. We show that the method can be applied to crude cell wall preparations of Arabidopsis inflorescence stems. Using chemical deesterification before or after Endo-PG digestion, we show that in the Arabidopsis cell wall, the pectins have both nonesterified and highly esterified regions.
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