In order to give a full explanation for tissue degradation phenomenon by pectolytic enzyme of soft rot pseudomonad, endo-PTE, the present investigation was conducted to confirm the molecular sizes and molecular weight distributions of water-soluble polysaccharides (F-I subfraction), which were liberated from cell wall-materials during the macerating action, by viscometric measurement and Sephadex gel-filtration method. In this experiment, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4M fractions, which were considered as major components of the water-soluble carbohydrates, were mainly used and compared in the degree of polymerization with some pectate markers prepared from pectinic acid according to the methods of Okamoto
et al. and Hatanaka
et al.
Acid-insoluble pectic acid Ia was used as a standard material, which showed a ratio of uronide residues to aldehyde groups to be 29.96. Assuming that the carbohydates used, are higher molecule of straight chain, mean degrees of polymerization of 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4M fractions were calculated at about 33, 96 and 125 by Ostwald's viscometric measurement, respectively. From these results, it seemed that mean viscometric mole-cular weight differs among each fraction, and about 6×10
3, 2×10
4 and 2.5×10
4, respectively.
By Sephadex G-100 gel-filtration, degree of polymerization of 0.4M fraction was estimated approximately at 50, or more. Carbohydrates of 0.3 and 0.2M fractions were separated into two components by Sephadex gel column, viz. relatively higher and lower molecular compounds. Degrees of polymerization of the higher molecular compounds obtained from both fractions were estimated approximately 50 or more, which were similar to 0.4M fraction. Lower molecular components may be polyuronides, degrees of polymerization of which are assumed to be about 15∼45 in 0.2M fraction, and 30∼40 in 0.3M fraction. It is supposed, therefore, that carbohydrates of 0.2 and 0.3M fractions were the complexes of some components different in molecular sizes, and that these carbohydrates used in this experiment were released from so-called protopectin of cell wall-materials by endo-PTE at random manner.
View full abstract