13C magnetic resonance and structural studies on the mannose-containing polysaccharides of some Pichia and Hansenula spp.
Mannose-containing polysaccharides were isolated from the cell walls of six Pichia and Hansenula species. These species were chosen from a group of 24 yeasts having polysaccharides with a similar spectrum, each giving proton magnetic resonance spectra with signals at τ4.24 and τ4.36. The polysaccharides were equated or distinguished by their 13C magnetic resonance (c.m.r.) spectra into three groups based on differing structures. The validity of this technique was borne out by conventional structural determinations. The polysaccharides were found to represent a new structural type, being predominantly linear and containing predominant (1 → 6)-linked α-D-mannopyranose units with (1 → 2)-linked units distributed regularly along the main chains.Some of the signals of the Hansenula capsulata mannan could be assigned to certain carbons indicating that the c.m.r. technique may have uses in structural investigations.