Comparative compositional analysis of walls with two different morphologies: archetypical versus transfer-cell-like

Abnormally thick cell walls of a clonal maize cell line with the labyrinth wall morphology found in transfer cells were analyzed and compared to the r elatively thin and even archetypical walls of a sister cell line. Despite a drastic difference in wall morphology between the transfer and archetypica l cell walls, the chemical composition of the walls was essentially the sam e. There were no major differences in the glycosyl residue composition, in the amount of total lipid, and in the amount of total protein. The amounts of wall material released by chemical extraction of cellulosic, hemicellulo sic, and pectic fractions were the same for the two types of walls. There w ere some differences in the protein profile and in the inorganic ion conten t between the transfer and archetypical walls. These results indicate that profound changes in wall morphology can be brought about in the absence of gross changes in wall composition and suggest that major changes in time- o r place-dependent deposition and/or subtle changes in arrangement of rare w all constituents may be responsible.