A 300 MHz Study of Melibiose, Lactose and 3-Keto-Lactose in D2O

Enzymatic Production of Melibiose from Raffinose by the Levansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512 FMC

Melibiose, which is an important reducing disaccharide formed by α-1,6 linkage between galactose and glucose, has been proven to have beneficial applications in both medicine and agriculture. In this study, a characterized levansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512 FMC was further used to study the bioproduction of melibiose from raffinose. The reaction conditions were optimized for melibiose synthesis. The optimal pH, temperature, substrate concentration, ratio of substrates, and units of enzymes were determined as pH 6.0, 45 °C, 210 g/L, 1:1 (210 g/L:210 g/L), and 5 U/mL, respectively. The transfructosylation product of raffinose was determined to be melibiose by FTIR and NMR. A high raffinose concentration was found to strongly favor the production of melibiose. When 210 g/L raffinose and 210 g/L lactose were catalyzed using 5 U/mL purified levansucrase at pH 6.0 and 45 °C, the maximal yield of melibiose was 88 g/L.

Major oligosaccharides in the glycoprotein of Friend murine leukemia virus: structure elucidation by one- and two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance and methylation analysis

The highly microheterogeneous, N-glycosidically linked oligosaccharides in the glycoproteins of Friend murine leukemia virus (as produced by Eveline cells) were liberated with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H and by alkaline hydrolysis. They were fractionated (as desialylated oligosaccharitols) by gel filtration and by concanavalin A affinity chromatography, and the major fractions were analyzed by methylation-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, by digestion with exoglycosidases, and, especially, by one- and two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Guidelines for qualitative and quantitative analysis of complex oligosaccharide mixtures by NMR were worked out and the results compared with those obtained by methylation analysis. It was found that these major fractions consist of bi-, tri-, and tetraantennary oligosaccharitols of the "complex" type (comprising a minority of species with N-acetyllactosamine repeating units), which are, in part, substituted by nonreducing terminal Gal alpha (1----3) and/or bisecting GlcNAc beta (1----4) residues.

Solution structure of 5-keto-D-fructose: relevance to the specificity of hexose kinases

5-Keto-D-fructose (5KF) is isolated from cultures of Gluconobacter cerinus growing on D-fructose as the sole carbon source. 5KF is a substrate for hexokinase, fructokinase, and several polyol dehydrogenases. 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance studies show that 5KF exists in different forms in anhydrous dimethyl-d6 sulfoxide and D2O. In dimethyl-d6 sulfoxide, 5KF exists as a spirane dimer with linked furanose and pyranose rings, similar to the structure reported for crystalline 5KF [Hassen, L., Hordvik, A., & Hove, R. (1976) J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 572-. In D2O, 5KF exists predominantly (greater than 95%) in a beta-pyranose form with the 5-keto group hydrated to form a gem-diol. 13C--1H coupling patterns, 13C relaxation measurements, and 13C deuterium-induced differential isotope shifts confirm this structure of 5KF. The phosphorylation of 5KF by fructokinase can be accounted for by an approximately 2% proportion of the beta-furanose form in solution at 25 degrees C. Both the beta-pyranose and beta-furanose forms of 5KF are proposed to be substrates for yeast hexokinase.