Structural analysis of the degradation products of porphyran digested by Zobellia galactanivorans β-porphyranase A

Porphyran from the red seaweed Porphyra umbilicalis was degraded with beta-porphyranase A derived from the marine flavobacterium Zobellia galactanivorans. beta-Porphyranase A produces a new series of sulfated oligosaccharides that we characterized by NMR. HPAEC and size-exclusion chromatography. In contrast to previously used beta-agarases, which produce predominantly non-sulfated oligosaccharides of the neoagarobiose series and hybrid oligosaccharides, beta-porphyranase A produced oligosaccharides of the alpha-L-Calp-6-sulfate (1 -> 3) beta-D-Galp (L6S-G) series and the L6S-G disaccharide was the major final product. The newly identified beta-porphyranase A was further used in combination with beta-agarase B to revise porphyran polysaccharide structure (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.