DEPOSITION OF CELL WALLS IN OAT COLEOPTILES

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Abstract
Autoradiographs of squashed cell walls from coleoptile segments grown on a tritiated sucrose solution show that wall deposition is not localized at a few synthetic centers but occurs over the whole area of the wall. Autoradiographs of sections of such segments also demonstrate that wall materials are deposited throughout the depth of the thickened outer epidermal walls. Electron microscopy of sections of coleoptile cells failed to detect any evidence for deep penetration of cell walls by the cytoplasm. It is concluded that in these and some other types of cell walls, individual enzyme molecules bound in an organized pattern to the wall are responsible for synthesizing new wall materials from precursors diffusing into the wall.