Synthesis of Lewis X epitopes on plant N-glycans

Glycoproteins from tobacco line xFxG1, in which expression of a hybrid beta-(1 -> 4)-galactosyltransferase (GalT) and a hybrid alpha-(1 -> 3)-fucosyltransferase IXa (FUT9a) is combined, contained an abundance of hybrid N-glycans with Lewis X (Le(X)) epitopes. A comparison with N-glycan profiles from plants expressing only the hybrid beta-(1 -> 4)-galactosyltransferase suggested that the fucosylation of the LacNAc residues in line xFxG1 protected galactosylated N-glycans from endogenous plant beta-galactosidase activity. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.