STUDIES ON CELL-WALL POLYSACCHARIDES FROM SIPHONOUS GREEN-ALGAE .3. CELLULOSE IN THE CELL-WALL OF THE SIPHONOUS GREEN-ALGA, BRYOPSIS-MAXIMA

The cell wall microfibrils of Bryopsis maxima, a member of the order Siphonales which have been referred to as "noncellulosic plants", contain <10% of d-glucan and >90% of (1→3)-β-d-xylan. A combination of enzymic analysis and 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy confirmed that the d-glucan was cellulose and that the algal cell-wall microfibril seems to be composed not of a d-gluco-d-xylan but mainly of a (1→3)-β-d-xylan with small proportions of cellulose, which seemed to be present in an amorphous state in contrast to the trihelical strands of the (1→3)-β-d-xylan. © 1990.