Section: Chemistry of natural environments and objects
The uncontrolled growth of Sosnovsky’s hogweed (Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden.) in the central regions of the
Russian Federation is a pressing problem, because areas occupied by this plant significantly increase each year.
The methods used for the destruction of Sosnovsky’s hogweed (mowing, the use of herbicides, the use of geotextile,
etc.) are not effective enough, because the hogweed seeds remain viable for a long time, and its roots penetrate deep into
the soil. These methods do not involve the use of Sosnovsky’s hogweed biomass, which can serve as a source of physiologically
active substances, including pectin polysaccharides, whose content in the plant is 10 to 17%. In addition, the
structure and properties of water-soluble glycans of the Sosnovsky’s hogweed are not fully understood.Cultures of plant cells and tissues are a model object for the synthesis of phytopolysaccharides, therefore we used
the callus tissue of the Sosnovsky’s hogweed stem to obtain water-soluble polysaccharides. We used partial acid and
enzymatic hydrolysis, ultrafiltration, ion-exchange chromatography, and methylation, in order to study the composition
and structure of water-soluble polysaccharides of the Sosnovsky’s hogweed callus tissue.
We have found that water-soluble glycans from Sosnovsky’s hogweed callus are reserve polysaccharides – arabinans,
galactans and/or arabinogalactans content of uronic acids with up to 24%, and pectic polysaccharides – linear
gomogalakturonan (ramnogalakturonan) and ramnogalakturonan-I, with a galacturonic acid content of 70.5–73.9%.
We obtained the results of methylation which suggest that the carbohydrate chains of the reserve polysaccharides are
formed by 1,5-linked L-arabinofuranose residues 1,6-and 1,3,6-linked D-galactopyranose residues, 1,4- and 1,4,6-linked
residues of D-glucopyranose and 1,3,6-linked residues of D-mannopyranose, and terminal residues of D-xylopyranose
and D-glucopyranose are located at the non-reducing ends of their carbohydrate chains. The carbohydrate side chains of
pectin polysaccharides include 1,5-linked L-arabinofuranose residues, 1,6-and 1,3,6-linked D-galactopyranose residues,
1,4-linked D-glucopyranose residues, 1,4- linked D-xylopyranose residues, 1,3,6-linked D-mannopyranose residues, as
well as 1-linked D-glucopyranose and D-xylopyranose residues.
ISSN 1995-4301
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