LOCALIZATION OF HEMICELLULOSES IN THE CELL-WALLS OF SOME WOODY-PLANTS USING IMMONUGOLD ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

The localization of xyloglucan and glucomannan was determined in the differentiating xylem cells of pine, poplar and bamboo using immuno-gold electron microscopy. Xyloglucan was localized in the primary wall. In bamboo, many gold-particles, which indicated xyloglucan localization, were found in the vessel primary wall, but seldom found in the walls of the other cells. Such a tendency was not seen in pine or poplar. This suggests that either the vessel primary wall of bamboo contains more xyloglucan than the other cells or that the xyloglucan in the vessel wall contains more substituted xylosyl residues than the other cells. Glucomannan was localized clearly in the secondary wall of pine. However, the gold-particles were found only sporadically in the secondary wall of the other species. These findings and the fact that an antibody against tetramannoside was used for the immuno-gold detection of glucomannan suggest that the glucomannan of pine contains a much larger amount of tetrameric fragments of manno-oligosaccharide, than the other species.