The Structure of Plant Cell Walls: I. The Macromolecular Components of the Walls of Suspension-cultured Sycamore Cells with a Detailed Analysis of the Pectic Polysaccharides

This is the first in a series of papers dealing with the structure of cell walls isolated from suspension-cultured sycamore cells (Acer pseudoplatanus). These studies have been made possible by the availability of purified hydrolytic enzymes and by recent improvements in the techniques of methylation analysis. These techniques have permitted us to identify and quantitate the macromolecular components of sycamore cell walls. These walls are composed of 10% arabinan, 2% 3,6-linked arabinogalactan, 23% cellulose, 9% oligo-arabinosides (attached to hydroxyproline), 8% 4-linked galactan, 10% hydroxyproline-rich protein, 16% rhamnogalacturonan, and 21% xyloglucan.