Novel (rhamnosyl and ribosyl) and uncommon (xylosyl) monosaccharide residues are present in asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of the trypanosomatid Blastocrithidia culicis.

Blastocrithidia culicis is a trypanosomatid protozoon that transfers Man6GlcNAc2 in protein N-glycosylation. Compounds containing mannosyl, xylosyl, and rhamnosyl residues were found among the endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H-sensitive oligosaccharides of whole cell glycoproteins of this parasite. The compositions of some of them were as follows: Man5GlcNAc2, Man6GlcNAc2, Rha1Man5GlcNAc2, Rha2Man6GlcNAc2, Xyl1Rha2Man6-GlcNAc2, Xyl1Rha3Man6GlcNAc2, and Xyl2Rha3Man6-GlcNAc2. On the other hand, oligosaccharides containing mannosyl, xylosyl, rhamnosyl, and ribosyl units were liberated from endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase-resistant glycopeptides upon treatment with N-glycanase. This is the first report on the presence of ribosyl units in eukaryote glycoconjugates, of rhamnosyl residues in asparagine-linked oligosaccharides, and of xylosyl units in high mannose-type compounds.