Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 Sep;2(5):873-82.
doi: 10.1093/mp/ssp063. Epub 2009 Aug 17.

(1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans in cell walls of the poaceae, lower plants, and fungi: a tale of two linkages

Rachel A Burton  1 , Geoffrey B Fincher
Affiliations
Free article
Review

(1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans in cell walls of the poaceae, lower plants, and fungi: a tale of two linkages

Rachel A Burton et al. Mol Plant. 2009 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

(1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans consist of unbranched and unsubstituted chains of (1,3)- and (1,4)-beta-glucosyl residues, in which the ratio of (1,4)-beta-D-glucosyl residues to (1,3)-beta-D-glucosyl residues appears to influence not only the physicochemical properties of the polysaccharide and therefore its functional properties in cell walls, but also its adoption by different plant species during evolution. The (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans are widely distributed as non-cellulosic matrix phase polysaccharides in cell walls of the Poaceae, which evolved relatively recently and consist of the grasses and commercially important cereal species, but they are less commonly found in lower vascular plants, such as the horsetails, in algae and in fungi. The (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans have often been considered to be components mainly of primary cell walls, but recent observations indicate that they can also be located in secondary walls of certain tissues. Enzymes involved in the depolymerisation of (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans have been well characterized. In contrast, initial difficulties in purifying the enzymes responsible for (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucan biosynthesis slowed progress in the identification of the genes that encode (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucan synthases, but emerging comparative genomics and associated techniques have allowed at least some of the genes that contribute to (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucan synthesis in the Poaceae to be identified. Whether similar genes and enzymes also mediate (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucan biosynthesis in lower plants and fungi is not yet known. Here, we compare the different fine structures of (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans across the plant kingdom, present current information on the genes that have been implicated recently in their biosynthesis, and consider aspects of the cell biology of (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucan biosynthesis in the Poaceae.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types