The products released in cell wall autolysis from 4-day-old epicotyls of Pisum sativum elute in gel filtration
chromatography (Bio Gel P.2) as two components, mono and polysaccharides, in a practically constant ratio
over the time of incubation. The polysaccharides are mainly composed of arabinose and galactose, with smaller
amounts of xylose and glucose, whereas the monosaccharide are almost exclusively composed of galactose. The
same results were obtained when inactive cell walls were hydrolyzed by the enzymes extracted from the cell wall
with LiC1. The hydrolysis of the different cell wall fractions by these enzymes shows that the autolytic substrates
are preferentially located on the pectic fractions.
