Ubiquity of a Borate-Rhamnogalacturonan II Complex in the Cell Walls of Higher Plants

The presence of a borate-rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII) complex[Kobayashi et al. (1996) Plant Physiol. 110: 1017] was examinedin cell walls of 24 species from higher plants. We studied twospecies in Brassicaceae, three in Cucurbitaceae, four in Leguminosae,two in Apiaceae, two in Chenopodiaceae, two in Solanaceae, twoin Asteraceae, one in Liliaceae, one in Araeae, two in Amaryllidaceaeand three in Gramineae. In all the species examined, cell-wallboron was judged to be associated with RG-II. Moreover, in 15species it seemed likely that RG-II might be the exclusive carrierof boron in the cell wall. (Received December 19, 1995; Accepted April 25, 1996)