Structural analysis of galactoarabinan from duckweed

A highly branched galactoarabinan named DAG1 (Mw∼4.0×10(4) Da) was purified from Lemna aequinoctialis 6000 via 70% (v/v) ethanol extraction, followed by size-exclusion chromatography on Bio-Gel P2 and Superdex 75. Methylation analysis showed that DAG1 consisted of t-Araf, (1→5)-Araf, (1→2,5)-Araf, (1→3)-Galp, and (1→3,6)-Galp in a relative proportion of approximately 6:4:3:3:3, suggesting an arabinogalactan/galactoarabinan polysacchairde. With the aid of arabinan degrading enzymes, the structure of DAG1 repeating unit was further characterized by ELISA with specific monoclonal antibodies and Yariv reagent assay. Analyses indicated that the proposed repeating unit of DAG1 had a backbone composed of seven α-(1→5)-L-arabinofuranose residues where branching occurred at O-2 with either terminal arabinoses or arabinogalactan side chain. The arabinogalactan side chain was composed of six β-(1→3)-D-galactopyranose residues, half of which were ramified at O-6 with terminal arabinoses and the last galactose was terminated with arabinose.