Transfer of truncated oligosaccharides to protein in vivo and the structure of Man2GlcNAc2 synthesized by intact yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were investigated in the alg2 mutant. At the nonpermissive temperature the alg2 mutant accumulates lipid-linked oligosaccharides that migrate on Bio-Gel P4 in the range expected for Man2GlcNAc2 and Man1GlcNAc2 (T.C. Huffaker and P.W. Robbins (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 7466-7470). We characterized the oligosaccharides, derived from protein and lipid, by comigration with standards on HPLC and by Smith degradation followed by HPLC. Man2GlcNAc2 and Man1GlcNAc2 are found on protein in alg2, since their release from a protein-containing precipitate of alg2 cells is N-glycanase (peptide-N4[N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl]asparagine amidase) dependent. Transfer also occurred in alg2/pAC3 cells, which carry ALG2 on a multicopy plasmid that confers partial correction of the oligosaccharide phenotype. The alg2/pAC3 cells are viable at 36 degrees C. Two isomers of Man2GlcNAc2, Man1----3ManGlcNAc2 and Man1----6ManGlcNAc2, were present on lipid and protein. The transfer of Man2GlcNAc2 and Man1GlcNAc2 to protein by intact cells supports topological models that postulate access by early intermediates to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum.