Calcium pectate chemistry controls growth rate of Chara corallina

Tension required for pectate chemistry to control growth in Chara corallina.

Recent work showed that polygalacturonate (pectate) chemistry controlled the growth rate of the large-celled alga Chara corallina when turgor pressure (P) was normal (about 0.5 MPa). The mechanism involved calcium withdrawal from the wall by newly supplied pectate acting as a chelator. But P itself can affect growth rate. Therefore, pectate chemistry was investigated at various P. A pressure pr...

Calcium deprivation disrupts enlargement of Chara corallina cells: further evidence for the calcium pectate cycle

Pectin is a normal constituent of cell walls of green plants. When supplied externally to live cells or walls isolated from the large-celled green alga Chara corallina, pectin removes calcium from load-bearing cross-links in the wall, loosening the structure and allowing it to deform more rapidly under the action of turgor pressure. New Ca(2+) enters the vacated positions in the wall and the ex...

A novel calcium-activated protease in Chara corallina

Enzyme-Less Growth in Chara and Terrestrial Plants

Enzyme-less chemistry appears to control the growth rate of the green alga Chara corallina. The chemistry occurs in the wall where a calcium pectate cycle determines both the rate of wall enlargement and the rate of pectate deposition into the wall. The process is the first to indicate that a wall polymer can control how a plant cell enlarges after exocytosis releases the polymer to the wall. T...

Evans Review: Cell wall biosynthesis and the molecular mechanism of plant enlargement

Recently discovered reactions allow the green alga Chara corallina (Klien ex. Willd., em. R.D.W.) to grow well without the benefit of xyloglucan or rhamnogalactan II in its cell wall. Growth rates are controlled by polygalacturonic acid (pectate) bound with calcium in the primary wall, and the reactions remove calcium from these bonds when new pectate is supplied. The removal appears to occur p...