COMPOSITION AND SYNTHESIS OF THE PECTIN AND PROTEIN COMPONENTS OF THE CELL WALL OF CLOSTERIUM ACEROSUM (CHLOROPHYTA)

Closterium acerosum Ehrenberg (Chlorophyta) possesses a trilayered cell wall consisting of an outer tri-laminate stratum, a fibrous middle layer, and a thick inner fibrous layer. The outermost layer has a series of external parallel ridges and valleys. At the bases of the valleys are the wall pores, the site of mucilage release. Pure fractions of cell walls were isolated and inclusive pectin and wall protein fractions were extracted and characterized. Two pectin-like fractions were isolated: a CDTA-extracted polymer consisting of 60.1% galacturonic acid and a Na₂CO₃-extracted fraction consisting of 39.9% galacturonic acid. Two major protein fractions, one with a molecular mass of 23.5 kDa and one with a molecular mass of 28.5 kDa, were isolated by preparative gel electrophoresis. The former was glycine-rich, whereas the latter contained both significant amounts of glycine and hydroxyproline. Antibodies were raised to both the pectin fractions and the 23.5-kDa wall protein fraction. Immunocytochemical labeling of whole cells and wall fragments using antibodies raised against CDTA and Na₂CO₃ extracts showed that these pectin-like components were found throughout the wall strata and were more concentrated at the polar tips, the site of new wall synthesis in growing semicells. Immunogold labeling showed that their production was focused on the trans- Golgi network of the Golgi apparatus. Immunolabeling with an antibody raised against the 23.5-kDa glycine-rich wall protein showed close association of the protein with the wall pores. Similarly, immunogold labeling revealed that the protein was processed throughout the entire Golgi body even when large mucilage-containing vesicles were being processed. The roles of the secretory apparatus and putative spitzenkorper-like regions of the cell are discussed.