This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nevins, D. J. Articles by Albersheim, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nevins, D. J. Articles by Albersheim, P. Agricola Articles by Nevins, D. J. Articles by Albersheim, P.

Articles

The Specific Nature of Plant Cell Wall Polysaccharides ¹

Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80302

Polysaccharide compositions of cell walls were assessed by quantitative analyses of the component sugars. Cell walls were hydrolyzed in 2 N trifluoroacetic acid and the liberated sugars reduced to their respective alditols. The alditols were acetylated and the resulting alditol acetates separated by gas chromatography. Quantitative assay of the alditol acetates was accomplished by electronically integrating the detector output of the gas chromatograph. Myo-inositol, introduced into the sample prior to hydrolysis, served as an internal standard.

The cell wall polysaccharide compositions of plant varieties within a given species are essentially identical. However, differences in the sugar composition were observed in cell walls prepared from different species of the same as well as of different genera. The fact that the wall compositions of different varieties of the same species are the same indicates that the biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides is genetically regulated. The cell walls of various morphological parts (roots, hypocotyls, first internodes and primary leaves) of bean plants were each found to have a characteristic sugar composition.

It was found that the cell wall sugar composition of suspension-cultured sycamore cells could be altered by growing the cells on different carbon sources. This demonstrates that the biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides can be manipulated without fatal consequences.

³ Predoctoral trainee under National Institutes of Health Training Grant HD-172.

¹ Supported in part by a grant from the United States Atomic Energy Commission No. AT (11-1)-1426.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. A. LIPPINCOTT and B. B. LIPPINCOTT Cell Walls of Crown-Gall Tumors and Embryonic Plant Tissues Lack Agrobacterium Adherence Sites Science, March 10, 1978; 199(4333): 1075 - 1078. [Abstract] [PDF]