Re-examination of the glycosylation of high M-r subunits of wheat glutenin

SDS-PAGE-separated high M-r wheat glutenin subunits stained positively in t he DIG-glycan procedure, suggesting that they were glycosylated, but contro l experiments indicated that these were probably false positives. Lack of r eaction with concanavalin A indicated the absence of terminal mannose, gluc ose, or N-acetylglucosamine. GC/MS analysis indicated that A-PAGE-prepared subunits contained glucose, mannose, xylose, and galactose. Because gel reg ions containing no protein contained similar amounts of those sugars, they were most likely unbound contaminants. RP-HPLC-purified subunits from cv. A pollo wheat contained variable amounts of glucose only, probably representi ng starch contamination. RP-HPLC-purified subunits 1Ax1 and 1Bx7 contained no GC/MS-detectable sugars even though the procedure was sensitive enough t o detect 1 sugar residue per 40 subunit molecules. Mapping of tryptic or ch ymotryptic peptides, before and after deglycosylation, and GC/MS analysis o f isolated tryptic peptides provided no evidence for glycosylation of high M-r subunits. It appears unlikely that high M-r wheat glutenin subunits are glycosylated.