Glycogen not N-acetylglucosamine the prostatic carbohydrate of three Australian and American marsupials, and pattens of these sugars in marsupialia

Abstract

1. 1. The major carbohydrate of the prostate of dasyurid and didelphid marsupials was found to be glycogen. 2. 2. Neither N-acetylglucosamine, the characteristic seminal and prostatic sugar of all but one previously examined marsupial species, nor fructose were detected. 3. 3. Glycogen was only a minor constituent of the phalangerid and peramelid, prostate gland (high N-acetylglucosamine species). 4. 4. The prostatic secretion of the dasyurid, Sarcophilus, had a very high concentration of glycogen, suggesting that the polysaccharide is the seminal sugar in this species. 5. 5. These and earlier data indicate that there are at least three prostatic carbohydrate patterns in marsupials.