DISCOVERY OF k-CARRAGEENAN-LIKE AGAROSE FROM A RED SEAWEED, Gracilaria coronopifolia

摘要

Agarose is the major gelling constituent of agar extracted from a family of red seaweeds and used as a gelling agent in the separation, purification, characterization, and analysis of biomacromolecules. The principle of agarose gel has been established at molecular level including water [1-3]. Furthermore, high quality agarose [4] and the agarose substituted with methyl groups at C-2 or C-6 of ss-D-galactose residues were identified [5]. We report here on the identification of K-carrageenan-like agarose from Gracilaria coronopifolia collected in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa , Japan.