Studies of plant-cell walls and plant-microbe interactions. Progress report, April 1979-April 1982

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:5246677

Albersheim, P

The most important accomplishment was the discovery that oligosaccharides derived from plant cell wall polysaccharides are biolgically active, that is, they possess a regulatory role in plants. The connection between biologically active carbohydrates and plant cell walls came with the discovery that bacteria elicit the accumulation of phytoalexins in plant tissues by injuring plant cells and, in doing so, cause the release of a fragment of a plant cell wall polysaccharide that elicits the synthesis of phytoalexins. The second biologically active carbohydrate found in plant cell walls was also found to be a pectic polysaccharide. In this case, the carbohydrate is a regulatory molecule that induces the de novo synthesis of proteins possessing the ability to inhibit proteinases of insects and bacteria. Naturally occurring carbohydrates with biological regulatory functions are called oligosaccharins. It appears that the endogenous elicitor and the proteinase inhibitor-inducing factor are just two examples of a variety of oligosaccharins with diverse functions are known including a nonasaccharide fragment that inhibits elongation of pea-stem segments, an oligosaccharin capable of inhibiting completely the flowering of Lemna, and oligosaccharin involved in the hypersensitive resistance response of plants to incompatible races of pathogens. Evidence for several other oligosaccharins has been obtained. (ERB)

• Research Organization: Colorado Univ., Boulder (USA). Dept. of Chemistry
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76ER01426
• OSTI ID: 5246677
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/01426-T2; ON: DE82018869
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550200* -- Biochemistry
550900 -- Pathology
551000 -- Physiological Systems
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BIOCHEMISTRY
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOSYNTHESIS
BLOOD SUBSTITUTES
CARBOHYDRATES
CELL CONSTITUENTS
CELL WALL
CHEMISTRY
DISEASE RESISTANCE
DRUGS
HEMATOLOGIC AGENTS
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
OLIGOSACCHARIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PECTINS
PLANT CELLS
PLANTS
POLYSACCHARIDES
PROTEINS
SACCHARIDES
SYNTHESIS