The surprising ability of cereals to modify their production of polysaccharides

Unlike domesticated cereals where starch is the predominant polysaccharide, the grains of the model grass plant, Brachypodium distachyon, have a particularly high content of mixed β-glucans, 45% of the grain weight, contained in thick cell walls, and a low starch content, less than 6%. However, no data were available prior to our study on the function of this polysaccharide during grain germination.