Comparative studies of the neutral sugar composition of cell wall polysaccharides between cultured cells and mother plant tissues of soybean and carrot

The cell walls obtained from cultured cells grown under variousconditions and their mother plant tissues or organs were comparedwith regard to the neutral sugar composition of polysaccharides.In the pectic fraction of cell walls from soybean hypocotyl,greater amounts of galactose than other neutral sugars weredetected, and the relative sugar ratio did not change in theelongating and non-elongating portions of the tissue. On theother hand, more arabinose than other sugars was detected inthe pectic fraction of cell walls from cultured cells from soybeanhypocotyl tissue, and no significant change in the sugar ratioof polysaccharides was found in this fraction during the cultureperiod. A higher arabinose content in cell walls from culturedcells from root tissues as compared to the mother tissues ororgans was also detected in carrot. The neutral sugar ratioof cell walls from cultured cells was similar in cells grownon agar or liquid medium, with indoleacetic acid, or with orwithout 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). These factssuggest that the high arabinose content of cell walls is notcommon to the cell walls of young, growing, undifferentiatedcells, and that 2,4-D is not required for the maintenance ofthe higher content of arabinose in cell walls of cultured cells. ¹A preliminary report of this work was presented for the annualmeeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologist at OhioState University, August, 1979. [Plant Physiol., 63(5) 118 (1979)].⁴Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Washington State University,Pullman, Washington 99164, U.S.A. (Received October 6, 1979; )