Cell wall formation in zoospores of Allomyces arbuscula. III. Carbohydrate composition of cell walls during development from meiospores to hyphae.

Carbohydrate composition was determined in isolated cell walls of meiospores of Allomyces arbuscula after incubation for 15 min (encysted meiospores: cysts), 150 min (germlings: cysts + rhizoids) and 24 h (cysts + rhizoids + hyphae). The principal constituent in all cell wall samples is chitin, accounting for about 75% of the recovered carbohydrates. In addition, cell walls of all stages examined contain polysaccharides which release galactose, glucose, mannose, arabinose, xylose, fucose, and rhamnose on acid hydrolysis. While different developmental stages show minor quantitative changes in chitin, the ratio of galactose to glucose decreases sharply during differentiation of ungerminated cysts into germlings with rhizoids and hyphae. The increase in glucose is accompanied by a decrease in the amount of xylose and/or fucose and of galactose.