Abstract
Cell walls are a defining feature of plants and have numerous crucial roles in growth and development. They are also the largest source of terrestrial biomass and have many important industrial applications – ranging from bulk products to functional food ingredients. There is considerable interest in the structure and functions of cell walls, and in the evolution of their remarkably complex polysaccharide structures. The grasses and cereals (order Poales), have long been regarded as being unique in that their cell walls contain an unbranched homopolymer, (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucan, in which short blocks of (1→4)-linked β-D-Glcp are joined by occasional (1→3)-linkages. This mixed linkage glucan (MLG) has been the subject of extensive research because of the economic importance of several Poales species including rice, barley and wheat and because MLG has proven health benefits. The recent discovery of MLG in horsetails (Equisetales order) was therefore significant and has prompted a re-evaluation of some of the current views on cell wall evolution and structural diversity.Addendum to: Sørensen I, Pettolino FA, Wilson SM, Doblin MS, Johansen B, Bacic A, Willats WGT. Mixed-linkage (1→3),(1→4)-β-D-glucan is not unique to the Poales and is an abundant component of Equisetum arvense cell walls. Plant J 2008; 54:510-21.
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