Four different grain cell wall staining techniques were compared. Two techniques specifically detected arabinoxylan (AX). The first technique used a xylanase probe, while the other one was based on immunolabeling of AX using monoclonal antibodies. The two other staining techniques, one based on Calcofluor and the other on immunolabeling using monoclonal antibodies, stained mixed-linkage β-glucan. Cell walls of wheat, barley, oat and rye grains, differing both in content and location of AX and β-glucan, were examined. The staining methods were complementary to each other in revealing the location and distribution of the major cereal dietary fiber components AX and β-glucan in the different grains. AX was mostly concentrated in nucellar epidermis and aleurone cells, whereas β-glucan was concentrated more in subaleurone cells. Furthermore, in the case of barley and rye, the endosperm cell walls also contained high amounts of β-glucan. Interestingly, β-glucan in rye and barley endosperm cell walls was located adjacent to the cell contents, suggesting that it is not evenly distributed in the endosperm cell walls. The results give new insight into the structure of the cereal dietary fiber complex. Further development of microscopic techniques will help in elucidating the cereal cell wall structure even in more detail.

比较了四种不同的谷物细胞壁染色技术。两种技术专门检测了阿拉伯木聚糖（AX）。第一种技术使用木聚糖酶探针，而另一种技术则使用单克隆抗体对AX进行免疫标记。另两种染色技术（一种基于Calcofluor，另一种基于单克隆抗体的免疫标记）对混合连接的β-葡聚糖进行了染色。检查了小麦，大麦，燕麦和黑麦谷物的细胞壁，它们在AX和β-葡聚糖的含量和位置上都不同。染色方法在显示谷物中主要谷物膳食纤维成分AX和β-葡聚糖的位置和分布方面是相互补充的。AX主要集中在细胞表皮和糊粉细胞中，而β-葡聚糖则更多地集中在亚神经元细胞中。此外，对于大麦和黑麦，胚乳细胞壁也含有大量的β-葡聚糖。有趣的是，黑麦和大麦胚乳细胞壁中的β-葡聚糖位于细胞内含物附近，表明它在胚乳细胞壁中分布不均匀。结果为谷物膳食纤维复合物的结构提供了新的见解。显微技术的进一步发展将有助于更详细地阐明谷物细胞壁的结构。