Monoclonal antibodies indicate low-abundance links between heteroxylan and other glycans of plant cell walls

The derivation of two sensitive monoclonal antibodies directed to heteroxylan cell wall polysaccharide preparations has allowed the identification of potential inter-linkages between xylan and pectin in potato tuber cell walls and also between xylan and arabinogalactan-proteins in oat grain cell walls. Plant cell walls are complex composites of structurally distinct glycans that are poorly understood in terms of both in muro inter-linkages and developmental functions. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are versatile tools that can detect cell wall glycans with high sensitivity through the specific recognition of oligosaccharide structures. The isolation of two novel MAbs, LM27 and LM28, directed to heteroxylan, subsequent to immunisation with a potato cell wall fraction enriched in rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) oligosaccharides, is described. LM27 binds strongly to heteroxylan preparations from grass cell walls and LM28 binds to a glucuronosyl-containing epitope widely present in heteroxylans. Evidence is presented suggesting that in potato tuber cell walls, some glucuronoxylan may be linked to pectic macromolecules. Evidence is also presented that suggests in oat spelt xylan both the LM27 and LM28 epitopes are linked to arabinogalactan-proteins as tracked by the LM2 arabinogalactan-protein epitope. This work extends knowledge of the potential occurrence of inter-glycan links within plant cell walls and describes molecular tools for the further analysis of such links. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00425-015-2375-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.