Coll wall polysaccharides of the hypocotyl and roots in germinating beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were selectively labeled in arabinosyl, xylosyl, and galacturonosyl residues by per-C-deuter-ated myo-inositol, which was introduced through 72 hours of imbibition. Glucuronate residues remained unlabeled. Selected ion gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed that deuterium was not redistributed in these three sugar residues or into other carbohydrate residues during this conversion, suggesting that the labeled residues are formed exclusively via the myo-inositol oxidation pathway and that no glucogenesis from myo-inositol takes place during this conversion. The presence of a significant level of deuterated arabinose, xylose, and galactu-ronate after just 72 hours of imbibitional uptake of per-C-deuter-ated myo-inositol indicated that the myo-inositol oxidation pathway has a predominant role in the biosynthesis of new cell walls. myo-Inositol is an important precursor of plant cell wall polysaccharides. During seed development and germination, myo-inositol that has been stored in seeds in various forms is transported to the growing seedling parts and then converted to uronic acid and pentose residues for the synthesis of new cell wall polysaccharides (16-18). In germinating beans, myo-inositol is formed from reserve sugars at a very early stage that precedes phytic acid hydrolysis (19). Along with stored reserves of myo-inositol, this newly synthesized myo-inositol is available for cell wall synthesis (19). Thus, studies of myo-inositol metabolism will enhance our understanding of cell wall formation and eventually reveal the role of myo-inositol in this process. Until now, most studies have utilized radio-labeled myo-inositol in this regard. Use of per-C-deuterated myo-inositol would provide an attractive, powerful technique that has advantages not available through tracer methodology. (a) Stable isotopes are not radioactive and are, therefore, easy to handle. (b) Labeled, nonlabeled, and total sugar compositions are readily analyzed simultaneously by GC-MS using selected ion and total ion-monitoring systems. (c) Selected ion monitoring easily and quickly provides important information on the redistribution of deuterium atoms into sugar residues other than those produced exclusively by the myo-' Supported in part by National Science Foundation grant BSR-8618847 to M. R. G. and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant to I. E. P. T. inositol oxidation pathway (10-12). (d) Specific labeling with a stable isotope permits one to use 2H-or '3C-NMR for nondestructive investigation of the structures involved. Recently , we developed a method for preparation and purification of large quantities of per-C-deuterated myo-inositol (14). Here we report on the use of this material to label cell walls of germinating bean hypocotyls and roots and perform GC-MS analysis on hydrolyzed products from these cell walls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation of Per-C-Deuterated myo-lnositol-Labeled Bean...