A simple method of preparing diverse neoagaro-oligosaccharides with β-agarase

In order to prepare pure and well-defined oligosaccharides from agarose in a rapid and simple manner, an enzymatic degradation method was developed, which includes degradation with either recombinant beta-agarase (EC 3.2.1.81) AgaA or AgaB and gel permeation chromatography. Agarose was degraded with AgaA at the optimized conditions, yielding 47% and 45% of neoagarotetraose and neoagarohexaose, respectively. These neoagaro-oligosaccharides were conveniently separated by consecutive column chromatography on Bio-Gel P2 or P6 and were identified by FACE. The structure of these neoagaro-oligosaccharides was confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS and C-13 NMR spectroscopy. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.