Water-soluble (1→3), (1→4)-β-d-glucans from barley (Hordeum vulgare) endosperm. III. Distribution of cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl residues

Cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl residues, linked by single (1→3)-β-linkages, account for more than 90% of the 40°C water-soluble (1→3), (1→4)-β-d-glucan from barley flour. We have analysed their sequence dependence by treating the polymer as a two-state Markov chain with stationary distribution. Quantitation of the penultimate oligosaccharides released during hydrolysis of the (1→3), (1→4)-β-d-glucan with (1→3), (1→4)-β-d-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.73) by analytical gel filtration chromatography enabled the relative abundance of two adjacent cellotriosyl, two adjacent cellotetraosyl and adjacent cellotetraosyl/cellotriosyl residues to be estimated and the sequence dependence to be evaluated.Within the theoretical and practical constraints of the method it is concluded that the cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl residues are arranged in an essentially independent (random) fashion. Thus, any mechanism proposed for the biosynthesis of the molecule should explain this apparently random distribution of cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl residues as well as the presence, in relatively low frequency, of blocks of up to 10 or more adjacent (1→4)-linkages.