Autolysis of the cell wall {beta}-D-glucan in corn coleoptiles

Corn coleoptile cell walls prepared and incubated in bufferautolyzed as much as 100 µg per mg dry weight over a 36hr period. This activity was attributed to the release of ß-D-glucanwhich constitutes as much as 110 µg per mg of the cellwall on a dry weight basis. Gel exclusion chromatography (Bio-gelP-2) of the autolytically solubilized products revealed thepresence of a polymeric component and a monosaccharide, andtime course studies showed that the polymeric component wasprogressively converted to monosaccharide. Glucose was the onlymonosaccharide detected. Treatment of the polymeric componentwith a bacterial glucanase specific for ß(13):ß(14)mixed-linkage glucans yielded distinctive tetra- and trisaccharideswhich is consistent with the hypothesis that it was derivedfrom wall ß-D-glucan. At least 90% of the autolysisproducts were derived from this wall component. The tolerance of autolytic activity to detergents and high saltconcentrations provided evidence that the enzymes responsibleare strongly associated with the wall. (Received October 3, 1978; )