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A Proposed Pathway for the Biosynthesis of Pectin and Methylated Uronic Acid Residues

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Abstract

MYOINOSITOL is readily converted into uronosyl and pentosyl monomers of pectin and related polysaccharides in higher plants1,2. During this conversion, myoinositol is cleaved between carbon atoms 1 and 6 and is oxidized at carbon 1 to yield D-glucuronic acid. The latter is further converted by the plant to a number of metabolic products including pectin and hemicellulose. It remains undetermined whether this conversion is an obligatory pathway of polysaccharide biosynthesis during cell wall formation, but certain theories may be advanced about the role of this process as a source of methylated uronosyl and pentosyl residues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Regional Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, California

    FRANK A. LOEWUS

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  1. FRANK A. LOEWUS
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LOEWUS, F. A Proposed Pathway for the Biosynthesis of Pectin and Methylated Uronic Acid Residues. Nature 203, 1175–1176 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2031175a0

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