The percentage of pectic substances in the cell wall of rice leaf decreased with the ageing of the leaf but other components in the cell wall changed little during leaf growth. Cell wall components were not affected by a nutritional deficiency of calcium. At the beginning of the growth of rice leaf, calcium in the cell wall existed only in the pectic substance fraction both in the calcium sufficient and deficient leaves. However, in the cell wall of the mature leaf, a considerable amount of calcium was found in the lignin fraction. The amount of calcium in this form was larger in calcium sufficient leaves than in deficient leaves. Calcium seems to occur in two forms in the cell wall, combined with pectic substances and with ligneous substances. This assumption was further supported by calcium distribution in enzymatically degradated fractions of the cell wall. Calcium seems to be combined with pectic substances by a stronger chemical bond than with the ligneous substances.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ito et al. (1968) studied this question.