Sensitive detection and measurement of oligogalacturonides in Arabidopsis.

Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are pectin fragments derived from the partial hydrolysis of the plant cell wall pectin; they are elicitors of various defense responses. While their activity is well documented, the detection of OGs produced in planta is still a challenging task. A protocol has been developed for the extraction and analysis of OGs from small samples of Arabidopsis tissues by using fluorescent labeled OGs, which allowed to monitor the efficiency of extraction.