Studies on Oligosaccharins, Carbohydrates Possessing Biological Regulatory Activities: Technical Progress Report for the Period 9/87-9/88.

摘要

Complex carbohydrates have long been known to play important roles in biological recognition. In recent years it has been determined that complex carbohydrates are chemical messengers, that is, they act as regulatory molecules in plants and animals. This grant proposal concerns the characterization of such carbohydrate-regulatory molecules that are active in plant tissues. for example, we have shown that oligosaccharide fragments of major structural polysaccharides of fungal and plant cell walls can elicit plant cells to accumulate phytoalexins (antibiotics), a plant response that appears to be a general defense mechanism against potential pathogens. The enzymes that are catalyzed for synthesis of phytoalexins are themselves synthesized de novo in response to these carbohydrate-regulatory molecules. We call naturally occurring cell wall carbohydrates, with biological regulatory functions, oligosaccharins. It appears that the oligosaccharins involved in the elicitation of phytoalexin accumulation in plants are examples of a wide variety of oligosaccharins with diverse activities. Our laboratory is making a major effort to extend the oligosaccharin hypothesis to other areas of the interactions between plants and microbes, and also to the control of plant growth and development. We describe below our progress and proposed research in the oligosaccharin project. Our proposed research is a continuation of that described in our original proposal. 10 refs. (ERA citation 14:013607)