Oligosaccharides formed from sucrose by fructose-transferring enzymes of higher plants

Abstract

The action of aqueous extracts of higher plants on sucrose, and on other di -and tri-saccharides, was studied by paper chromatography. In all cases hydrolysis of sucrose was accompanied by the formation of trisaccharides. The trisaccharides produced from sucrose by an enzyme preparation from the leaves of sugar beet were isolated and tentatively identified as O-[alpha]-D-glycopyranosyl-(l->2)-O-[beta]-D-fructofuranosyl-(l-> 2) [beta] -D -fructofuranoside and O -[beta] -D -fructofuranosyl - (2 -> 6) -[alpha]-D-glyco-pyranosyl-(l->2)[beta]-D-fructofuranoside. During the action of the sugar-beet-leaf enzyme preparation on sucrose in the presence of uniformly labelled (C14)glucose some incorporation of radioactivity into the di-and tri-saccharide fractions was detected. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the hypothesis that leaf invertase participates in sucrose synthesis.