| Abstract | D-Glucose-1-C¹⁴, D-glucose-6-C¹⁴, D-mannose-1-C¹⁴, D-galactose-1-C¹⁴, D-glucuronolactone-1-C¹⁴, D-glucuronolactone-6-C¹⁴, potassium D-gluconate-6-C¹⁴, and L-arabinose-1-C¹⁴ were administered to wheat shoots. The cellulose and xylan were isolated after a 5 hour period of metabolism. Glucose was more readily converted to cellulose and xylan than any of the other compounds tested. The distribution of C¹⁴ in the glucose and xylose isolated from the polysaccharides indicates that xylan was formed from the aldohexoses and glucuronolactone by processes involving loss of carbon-6. L-Arabinose, unlike D-xylose and D-ribose, was converted to xylan with little rearrangement of the pentose skeleton. |
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