STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS OF CARRAGEENANS FROM THE TETRASPORIC STAGES OF THE RED ALGAE, GIGARTINA-LANCEATA AND GIGARTINA-CHAPMANII (GIGARTINACEAE, RHODOPHYTA)
R. Falshaw et Rh. Furneaux, STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS OF CARRAGEENANS FROM THE TETRASPORIC STAGES OF THE RED ALGAE, GIGARTINA-LANCEATA AND GIGARTINA-CHAPMANII (GIGARTINACEAE, RHODOPHYTA), Carbohydrate research, 307(3-4), 1998, pp. 325-331
The use of modern analytical techniques has facilitated the identifica
tion of the polysaccharides from tetrasporophytic Gigartina lanceata a
nd Gigartina chapmanii. The G. lanceata polysaccharide corresponds, ve
ry closely, to the idealised structure of lambda-carrageenan ([G2S-D2S
,6S](n)). That from G. chapmanii contains predominantly xi-carrageenan
([G2S-D2S](n)), but with about one in seven of the 3-linked units als
o has a pyruvate acetal group at the 4- and 6-positions, one in four o
f the 4-linked units is also sulfated at the 6-position, and a small b
ut significant number of 4-1inked 3,6-anhydrogalactosyl 2-sulfate unit
s are present. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.