Cell Wall Structure and Elongation Growth in Zea Mays Coleoptile Tissue

SUMMARY Data from pulse‐chase studies on the turnover of glycosidic linkages in cell walls of maize coleoptile sections and other work on the effect of auxin or low pH on sugar release from ‘sheets’ of cells derived from the same tissue are presented. The qualitative and quantitative effects of auxin and low pH on sugar release from cell sheets are almost identical in the short term. Using a recently derived model of the maize coleoptile cell wall, a hypothesis is proposed concerning the role of auxin‐induced proton release in the cleavage of glycosidic linkages in relation to growth.