Carbohydrate moieties derived from the G glycoprotein of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) grown in parental Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and the glycosylation mutant Lec4 have been analyzed by high-field 1H NMR spectroscopy. The major glycopeptides of CHO/VSV and Lec4/VSV were purified by their ability to bind to concanavalin A-Sepharose. The carbohydrates in this fraction are of the biantennary, complex type with heterogeneity in the presence of alpha(2,3)-linked sialic acid and alpha (1,6)-linked fucose residues. A minor CHO/VSV glycopeptide fraction, which does not bind to concanavalin A-Sepharose but which binds to pea lectin-agarose, was also investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy. These carbohydrates are complex moieties which appear to contain N-acetylglucosamine in beta(1,6) linkage. Their spectral properties are most similar to those of a triantennary complex oligosaccharide containing a 2, 6-disubstituted mannose alpha (1,6) residue. Carbohydrates of this type are not found among the glycopeptides of VSV grown in the Lec4 CHO glycosylation mutant.