Ginseng root water-extracted pectic polysaccharides originate from secretory cavities.

A range of molecular probes for cell wall polysaccharides has been used to explore the structure and location of water-extracted pectic polysaccharides occurring in fractions isolated from ginseng roots. The LM19 homogalacturonan (HG) epitope was abundant in an HG fraction and analysis of LM19 binding to a rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) rich-fraction indicated that the LM19 epitope is sensitive to acetylation. A specific RG-I epitope (LM16), four arabinogalactan-protein (AGP) epitopes (LM2, LM14, JIM16, MAC207) and an extensin epitope (JIM20) were found to be abundant and co-located in several isolated polysaccharide fractions including an arabinogalactan fraction and two RG-I fractions. Detection of the RG-I, AGP and extensin epitopes identified in isolated polysaccharide fractions in sections of ginseng roots indicated that they were most abundant in secretory cavities found in the cortical regions of ginseng roots. In addition, the immunocytochemical study indicated that polysaccharide epitope masking is a widespread phenomenon in the primary cell walls of ginseng roots.