The size and distribution of polysaccharides during their synthesis within the membrane system of maize root cells

Abstract

The polymers contained within pellets rich in either dictyosomes or the endoplasmic reticulum have been investigated. These were detected by the incorporation of radioactivity from D-[U-¹⁴C]glucose into the sugars in the intact root. Three types of material were obtained 1) water-soluble 2) soluble in chloroform 3) insoluble. The relative proportions of each of these 3 fractions were different in the 2 membrane preparations. The dictyosome pellet contained a high proportion of water-soluble material, some of the water-soluble polysaccharides contained in both membrane preparations had a molecular weight greater than 40,000. These polymers resembled the pectins and xylans deposited in the cell wall. Some of the insoluble material could be rendered soluble by incubation with proteolytic enzymes and all of this from the dictyosome pellet had a molecular weight greater than 4,000 whereas most of that obtained from the endoplasmic reticulum had a molecular weight less than 4,000 and it did not contain fucose.