Skip to main content

The Discovery of Oligosaccharins

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Research Progress in Oligosaccharins
  • 636 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter is a personal historical account of the events leading to the discovery of oligosaccharins. The discovery was not the result of a eureka-type event but rather lots of well-designed laboratory experiments. In the early days, including most of the time period covered by this chapter, oligosaccharins were called elicitors. The chronology of the chapter ends in 1984, for by that time the biological regulatory properties of structurally defined oligosaccharides were established. The biological activities and structures of two oligosaccharins originating from fungal mycelial wall polysaccharides and two from plant cell wall polysaccharides are described.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Keen NT. Specific elicitors of plant phytoalexin production: detenninants of race specificity in pathogens? Science. 1975;187(4171):74–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ayers AR, Valent B, Ebel J, Albersheim P. Host pathogen interactions: XI. Composition and structure of wall-released elicitor fractions. Plant Physiol. 1976;57:766–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Sharp JK, McNeil M, Albersheim P. The primary structures of one elicitor-active and seven elicitor-inactive hexa(β-d-glucopyranosyl)-d-glucitols isolated from the mycelial walls of Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. Glycinea. J Biol Chem. 1984;259(18):11321–36.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Sharp JK, Albersheim P. Comparison of the structures and elicitor activities of a synthetic and a mycelial-wall-derived hexa(β-d-glucopyranosyl)-d-glucitol. J Biol Chem. 1984;259(18):11341–5.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hadwiger LA, Beckman JM. Chitosan as a component of pea-Fusarium solani interactions. Plant Physiol. 1980;66(2):205–11.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Stekoll M, West CA. Purification and properties of an elicitor of castor bean phytoalexin from culture filtrates of the fungus Rhizopus stolonifer. Plant Physiol. 1978;61(1):38–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Hahn MG, Darvill AG, Albersheim P. Host-pathogen interactions: XIX. The endogenous elicitor, a fragment of a plant cell wall polysaccharide that elicits phytoalexin accumulation in soybeans. Plant Physiol. 1981;66:1161–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee SC, West CA. Properties of Rhizopus stolonifer polygalacturonase, an elicitor of casbene synthase activity in castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1981;67(4):640–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Spiro MD, Kates KA, Koller AL, O’Neill MA, Albersheim P, Darvill AG. Purification and characterization of biologically active 1,4-linked α-d-oligogalacturonides after partial digestion of polygalacturonic acid with endopolygalacturonase. Carbohydr Res. 1993;247:9–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Bishop PD, Pearce G, Bryant JE, Ryan CA. Isolation and characterization of the proteinase inhibitor-inducing factor from tomato leaves. Identity and activity of poly- and oligogalacturonide fragments. J Biol Chem. 1984;259(21):13172–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Marfa V, Gollin DJ, Eberhard S, Mohnen D, Darvill AG, Albersheim P. Oligogalacturonides are able to induce flowers to form on tobacco explants. Plant J. 1991;1(2):217–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. York WS, Darvill AG, Albersheim P. Inhibition of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-stimulated elongation of pea stem segments by a xyloglucan oligosaccharide. Plant Physiol. 1984;75:295–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Other References

  • Albersheim P, Darvill AG, McNeil M, Valent BS, Hahn MG, Lyon G, Sharp JK, Desjardins AE, Spellman MW, Ross LM, Robertsen BK, Aman P, Franzen LE. Structure and function of complex carbohydrates active in regulating plant-microbe interactions. Pure Appl Chem. 1981;53:79–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Albersheim Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Albersheim, P. (2016). The Discovery of Oligosaccharins. In: Yin, H., Du, Y. (eds) Research Progress in Oligosaccharins. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3518-5_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics