PLANT-CELL WALL FRAGMENTS AS ELICITORS

The oligosaccharides that signal plants to begin the defensive and dev elopment processes are called elicitors. The elicitors have been shown to be constituents of microbes and are present also in plant cell wal ls. The mechanisms that allows the oligosaccharides to be released by insect and microorganism attacks that act as a signal to activate gens and produce defensive chemical are reviewed. The recent research to u nderstand the role of cell wall fragments as regulating molecules in o ther physiological processes are summarized. Since they also elicit th e synthesis of ethylene their importance could be in the regulation of fruit ripening.