The Permeability of Plant Cell Walls as Measured by Gel Filtration Chromatography

Abstract

The permeability of plant cell walls to macromolecules may limit the ability of enzymes to alter the biochemical and physical properties of the wall. Proteins of molecular weight up to 60,000 can permeate a substantial portion of the cell wall. Measurements of wall permeability in which cells are exposed to hypertonic solutions of macromolecules may seriously underestimate wall permeability.