title: Effective extraction of Arabidopsis adherent seed mucilage by ultrasonic treatment.
abstract: The Arabidopsis seed coat is composed of two layers of mucilage, a water-soluble non-adherent outer layer and an adherent inner layer. The non-adherent mucilage can easily be extracted by gentle shaking. However, adherent mucilage is extremely difficult to dissociate from the seed coat. Despite various treatments to extract the adherent mucilage, including EDTA, ammonium oxalate, dilute alkali or acid washes, most of it remains on the seed coat. Here, we show for the first time the extraction of almost all of the adherent mucilage from the Arabidopsis seed coat. Our results demonstrate that ultrasonic treatment was able to extract the adherent mucilage effectively within 20 seconds. Adherent mucilage, like non-adherent mucilage, is mainly composed of rhamnogalacturonan I (RG I). The crystalline cellulose content in adherent mucilage was measured as 3.7 mg g-1of dry seed. Compared with non-adherent mucilage, the adherent mucilage exhibits relatively stable levels of sugar under various environmental conditions. In all cases, adherent mucilage showed higher levels of sugar than non-adherent mucilage. The cell wall remnant could associate with the adherent mucilage, which could prevent the extraction of the adherent mucilage. Our results show that ultrasonic treatment is an effective method for the quick extraction of Arabidopsis adherent mucilage with little effort.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.|Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovative Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.|College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xianhai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.|Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovative Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.|College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ai-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000737:chemistry*; D059625:Liquid-Liquid Extraction / Q000379:methods; D009005:Monosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D062087:Plant Mucilage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D000069453:Ultrasonic Waves
chemical_list: D009005:Monosaccharides; D064209:Phytochemicals; D010936:Plant Extracts; D062087:Plant Mucilage