Purification and analysis of growth-regulating xyloglucan-derived oligosaccharides by high-pressure liquid chromatography.

The retention times of 10 oligosaccharides, generated from the xyloglucans of Rosa and Tropaeolum by the action of Trichoderma cellulase, and of 17 related carbohydrates, in h.p.l.c. on an amino-substituted silica (Amino-Spheri-5) depended largely on the number of hydroxyl groups per molecule, whereas h.p.l.c. on a pellicular anion-exchange resin (CarboPac PA1) was strongly influenced by the nature of the sugar residues present, especially L-fucose, and by their linkages. The major nonasaccharide (XG9, D-Glc4-D-Xyl3-D-Gal-L-Fuc) obtained from Rosa xyloglucan, after purification on Amino-Spheri-5, retained biological activity as an inhibitor of auxin-induced growth in a Pisum stem-segment bioassay. H.p.l.c. on Amino-Spheri-5 was used to monitor the action of "Driselase" in stripping the non-reducing terminal alpha-D-Xylp-(1----6)-beta-D-Glcp units from XG9 to yield a pentasaccharide (XG5, D-Glc2-D-Xyl-D-Gal-L-Fuc).