Components of the Spore Wall of Pithomyces chtartarum

Abstract

THE cell walls of fungi are known to contain large quantities of carbohydrate material, mainly composed of polymers of glucose, galactose, mannose and amino-sugars^1,2, but only in a few cases have the components been isolated from the walls and characterized. It is generally accepted that glycoproteins account for a considerable portion of the wall material in yeast³, as they do in the hyphal walls of the filamentous fungus, Pithomyces chartarum⁴. Very little is known about the composition of spore walls; those of ^{Aspergillus oryzae} contain carbohydrate, protein and nucleic acid⁵, and those of Mucor rouxii have carbohydrate, protein, lipid and pigment⁶, the carbohydrate having been isolated as glucan, mannan and chitosan.