Abstract
During the fruit development of angiosperms, dynamic changes occur within fruit tissues. After pollination has taken place, cell proliferation and rapid cell expansion allows the ovary to develop into fruits. Although cell wall synthesis and degradation are thought to play an important role during this rapid growth, the distributional alterations of cell wall polysaccharides during this development have not been well elucidated. In our research, we have attempted to visualize the changes of polysaccharide distribution in whole fruit during the developmental phase by using cell wall staining reagents and monoclonal antibodies, which recognize specific cell wall epitopes. Within 5 days post anthesis, fruit showed rapid growth in size, and increase in pectin content was visible in the pericarp. This increase was observed not only in methylesterified pectin but also in demethylesterified pectin, indicating the possibility of rapid synthesis and demethylesterification of pectin during this growth period. Also, pectic arabinan and galactan seemed to be abundant in ovules, suggesting the importance of these polysaccharides during the early embryonic development.
