Cell wall cementing materials of grass leaves.

Treatment of grass leaves with either a purified pectin lyase of Aspergillus japonicus or a purified xylanase of Trichoderma viride could lead to the isolation of some single leaf cells. However, a mixture of pectin lyase and xylanase brought about more rapid isolation of single cells than did either of the two enzymes alone, indicating a synergistic effect. Analysis of the components released from oat cell walls by the enzymes indicated that both homogalacturonans with a high degree of esterification and a kind of glucuronoarabinoxylan with ferulic acid ester may play a role in cell wall cementing in grass leaves.