Structure and function of plant cell wall polysaccharides

Studies of the primary structures of polysaccharides of growing plant cell walls have shown that these structures are far more complex than was anticipated just a few years ago. This complexity can best be appreciated by considering xyloglucan, a hemicellulose present in the cell wall of both monocots and dicots, and rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) and rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I), two structurally unrelated pectic polysaccharides. This realization led us to postulate that cell wall polysaccharides have functions beyond determining the size, shape and strength of plants. Some years ago we demonstrated that oligosaccharide fragments of a branched beta-linked glucan of fungal cell walls can elicit the production of phytoalexins (antibiotics) in plants by inducing the formation of the enzymes responsible for synthesis of the phytoalexins. It has now been ascertained and confirmed by synthesis that the elicitor activity resides in a very specific hepta-beta-D-glucoside. The heptaglucoside has been shown to elicit phytoalexins by activating the expression of specific genes, that is, by causing the synthesis of the mRNAs that encode the enzymes that synthesize phytoalexins. In other words, complex carbohydrates can be regulatory molecules. Further experiments established that oligosaccharide fragments of polysaccharides, produced by acid or base hydrolysis or by enzymolysis of primary cell walls of plants, also evoked defence responses in plants. Subsequently, we learned that defined fragments of polysaccharides, released from covalent attachment within plant cell walls, can function as regulators of various physiological processes such as morphogenesis, rate of cell growth and time of flowering and rooting, in addition to activating mechanisms for resisting potential pathogens. Examples of plant oligosaccharides with regulatory properties (called oligosaccharins) will be described.