Xyloglucan breakdown during cotton fiber development.

Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum L.) fibers elongated almost linearly up to about 20 days post anthesis. The molecular mass of xyloglucans in fiber cell walls decreased gradually during the elongation stage. When enzymatically active (native) cell wall preparations of fibers were autolyzed, the molecular mass of xyloglucans decreased. The decrease was most prominent in wall preparations obtained from the rapidly elongating fibers. The xyloglucan-degrading activity was recovered from the fiber cell walls with 3 mol/L NaCl, and the activity was high at the stages in which fibers elongated vigorously. These results suggest the possible involvement of xyloglucan metabolism in the regulation of cotton fiber elongation.