Symplastic and apoplastic sugar contents in gall tissues and callus of the sumac (Rhus chinensis MILL.)

To elucidate the role of cell wall in interaction with gall-inducing organisms, symplastic and apoplastic sugar contents in different shapes of gall tissue of the sumac (Rhus chinensis Mill.) were compared with those of the callus. The gall tissues with vascular cylinders, intercellular spaces and callus were fractionated into symplastic methanol (MeOH), hot water (HW), and starch] fractions and apoplastic pectin, hemicellulose, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-soluble, and cellulose] fractions. Symplastic sugar content of gall tissues was higher than that of callus. In apoplastic (cell wall) fractions, the cellulose content of gall tissues was lower than that of callus, due to large amount of pectin with high ratio of uronic acid (UA) and hemicellulose with low ratio of UA. Analysis of neutral sugar component of the hemicellulosic, TFA-soluble fraction showed that arabinose (side chain) and galactose (backbone) of arabinogalactan were rich in gall tissues and callus. The gall tissues had higher glucose and lower xylose contents than the callus. These results suggest that the structure of cell wall polysaccharides of gall changed during its development with an increase in symplastic sugar contents. The feeding activities occuring in gall by the gall-inducers were discussed.