Cluster effect through the oligomerisation of bioactive disaccharide AMOR on pollen tube capacitation in .

Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are plant-specific glycoproteins involved in cellular mechanics and signal transduction. There has been major progress in understanding the structure, synthesis, and molecular functions of their carbohydrate chains; however, the mechanisms by which they function as signalling molecules remain unclear. Here, methyl-glucuronosyl arabinogalactan (AMOR; Me-GlcA-β(1,6)-Gal), a disaccharide structure at the end of AGP carbohydrate chains, was oligomerised chemical synthesis. The biological activity of AMOR oligomers was enhanced clustering of the carbohydrate chains. Furthermore, AMOR oligomers yielded a pollen tube morphology (, callose plug formation) similar to that when cultured with native AMOR, suggesting it may be functionally similar to native AMOR.