EXTRACELLULAR POLYSACCHARIDES FROM SUSPENSION-CULTURES OF NICOTIANA-PLUMBAGINIFOLIA

The soluble polymers secreted by cell-suspension cultures of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia contained 78% carbohydrate, 6% protein and 4% inorganic material. The extracellular polysaccharides were separated into three fractions by anion-exchange chromatography using a gradient of imidazole-HCl at pH 7 and the individual polysaccharides in each fraction were then isolated by selective precipitation and enzymic treatment. Monosaccharide and linkage compositions were determined for each polysaccharide after reduction of uronic acid residues and the degree of esterification of the various uronic acid residues in each polysaccharide was determined concurrently with the linkage types. Six components were identified: an arabinoxyloglucan (comprising 34% of the total polysaccharide) and a galactoglucomannan (15%) in the unbound neutral fraction, a type II arabinogalactan (an arabinogalactan-protein, 11%) and an acidic xylan (3%) in the first bound fraction, and an arabinoglucuronomannan (11%) and a galacturonan (26%) in the second bound fraction.