Synthesis of arabinogalactans as probes for functional glycomic studies of the plant cell wall

There is increasing that plant cell walls play important roles in the biology of plants, but little is known about their makeup at the cellular and subcellular levels. In this study, fragments of Type II arabinogalactan oligosaccharides 1-5 and the portion of extensin 6, were synthesized to define the binding specificities of monoclonal antibodies for functional genomics studies in order to investigate the changes in plant cell walls during development and differentiation. Compounds 1-6 were synthesized by a building block strategy using appropriately protected monosaccharides, which can be used to assemble other Type II arabinogalactan oligosaccharides.