Carbohydrate analysis of concanavalin A-reactive and concanavalin A-nonreactive mycobacterial polysaccharides.

Concanavalin A-nonreactive polysaccharide and 2 concanavalin A-reactive polysaccharides of differing concanavalin A affinities that had been purified from culture filtrates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were subjected to carbohydrate analysis by gas and gas-liquid chromatography. Concanavalin A-nonreactive polysaccharide was found to be D-arabinogalactan, and the concanavalin A-reactive polysaccharide of highest affinity was found to be D-arabinomannan. The lower affinity concanavalin A-reactive polysaccharide was rich in arabinose and probably represented a mixture, with more than one polysaccharide present. Glucan was found to be a significant contaminant of all 3 polysaccharides.