A comparison of the polysaccharides extracted from dried and non-dried walls of suspension-cultured sycamore cells

Abstract

Suspension-cultured sycamore cells ( Acer pseudoplatanus) were disrupted in aqueous K-Pi buffer and the insoluble residue (the cell wall) purified by extraction with organic solvents and air-dried (dry cell walls) or by washing with aqueous sodium dodecyl sulphate and stored frozen (wet cell walls). Polysaccharides solubilized from the purified wet and dry cell walls by enzymatic digestion and chemical extraction were isolated and their glycosyl-residue compositions compared. No significant differences were found in the types or yields of the polysaccharides solubilized by enzymatic digestion and chemical extraction of the wet and dry cell wall preparations. Moreover, the glycosyl-residue compositions of the so-called ‘α-cellulose’ fraction that remains after extraction of the wet and dry cell wall preparations with alkali was indistinguishable from the glycosyl-residue compositions of the walls prior to extraction.