Fucosylation of Synthetic Oligosaccharides--Plant Xyloglucan Fragments--by Mammalian and Amphibian Fucosyltransferases

T. N. Druzhinina,¹ O. V. Sizova,¹ and V. N. Shibaev^1,2

¹Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr. 47, Moscow, 117913 Russia; fax: (7-095) 135-53-28; E-mail: shiba@ioc.ac.ru

²To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Submitted July 12, 1996; revision submitted September 26, 1996.

Liver and oviduct of frogs Rana temporaria and Xenopus laevis were shown to posses the activity of beta-galactoside alpha1-2-fucosyltransferase. Extracts of these tissues as well as porcine and rat submaxillary gland homogenates catalyze the fucosylation of synthetic plant xyloglucan fragments, the disaccharide D-Gal(beta1-2)D-Xyl and the tetrasaccharide D-Gal(beta1-2)D-Xyl(alpha1-6)D-Glc(beta1-4)D-Glc; the active preparations can be used for enzymatic synthesis of biologically active oligosaccharides.

KEY WORDS: oligosaccharines, plant xyloglucan, enzymic fucosylation.

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