Quantification of arabinogalactan-protein in plant extracts by single radial gel diffusion

The amount of arabinogalactan-protein in whole plant extracts can be quantified by single radial diffusion in agarose gels containing a dye known as the beta-glucosyl-Yariv reagent which specifically interacts with and precipitates arabinogalactan-proteins. The lower limit of quantification is 0.04 microgram of arabinogalactan-protein; gum arabic is used as a standard reference arabinogalactan-protein. In principle, this method can be adapted to measure levels of any dye-precipitating macromolecule; for example, acidic polysaccharides can be estimated by their binding to the cationic dye Alcian blue.