Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 11 September 1987:
Vol. 237. no. 4820, pp. 1344 - 1346
DOI: 10.1126/science.237.4820.1344
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Monitoring Biosynthesis of Wheat Cell-Wall Phenylpropanoids in Situ

N. G. LEWIS 1, E. YAMAMOTO 1, J. B. WOOTEN 2, G. JUST 3, H. OHASHI 1, and G. H. N. TOWERS 4

1 Wood Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Forest Products, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061.
2 Philip Morris USA Research Center, Richmond, VA 23261.
3 Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3A 2A7.
4 Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Y6.

Lignins and suberins are complex plant cell-wall macromolecules that are composed mainly of phenylpropanoid residues derived from L-phenylalanine. Lignins and suberins are considered to be covalently linked to carbohydrates and to lipids, respectively. The bonding of these important structural materials within cell walls has never been established. By feeding specifically labeled [13C] ferulic acid over extended durations to seedlings of Triticum aestivum L. and by using solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, the major resonances due to specific carbons in the propanoid side chains of these cell-wall polymers have been identified in situ. The signals were found to differ significantly from those of synthetic lignins, which have usually been considered to be good approximations of natural lignin structure.

Submitted on March 28, 1987
Accepted on July 7, 1987


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Horseradish Peroxidase-catalyzed Oligomerization of Ferulic Acid on a Template of a Tyrosine-containing Tripeptide.
G. Oudgenoeg, E. Dirksen, S. Ingemann, R. Hilhorst, H. Gruppen, C. G. Boeriu, S. R. Piersma, W. J. H. van Berkel, C. Laane, and A. G. J. Voragen (2002)
J. Biol. Chem. 277, 21332-21340
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Hydroxycinnamic Acid-derived Polymers Constitute the Polyaromatic Domain of Suberin.
M. A. Bernards, M. L. Lopez, and J. Zajicek (1995)
J. Biol. Chem. 270, 7382-7386
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)