Comparative in situ analyses of cell wall matrix polysaccharide dynamics in developing rice and wheat grain

Cell wall polysaccharides of wheat and rice endosperm are an important source of dietary fibre. Monoclonal antibodies specific to cell wall polysaccharides were used to determine polysaccharide dynamics during the development of both wheat and rice grain. Wheat and rice grain present near synchronous developmental processes and significantly different endosperm cell wall compositions, allowing the localisation of these polysaccharides to be related to developmental changes. Arabinoxylan (AX) and mixed-linkage glucan (MLG) have analogous cellular locations in both species, with deposition of AX and MLG coinciding with the start of grain filling. A glucuronoxylan (GUX) epitope was detected in rice, but not wheat endosperm cell walls. Callose has been reported to be associated with the formation of cell wall outgrowths during endosperm cellularisation and xyloglucan is here shown to be a component of these anticlinal extensions, occurring transiently in both species. Pectic homogalacturonan (HG) was abundant in cell walls of maternal tissues of wheat and rice grain, but only detected in endosperm cell walls of rice in an unesterified HG form. A rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) backbone epitope was observed to be temporally regulated in both species, detected in endosperm cell walls from 12 DAA in rice and 20 DAA in wheat grain. Detection of the LM5 galactan epitope showed a clear distinction between wheat and rice, being detected at the earliest stages of development in rice endosperm cell walls, but not detected in wheat endosperm cell walls, only in maternal tissues. In contrast, the LM6 arabinan epitope was detected in both species around 8 DAA and was transient in wheat grain, but persisted in rice until maturity

IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS ON CONSUMERS’ PURCHASE INTENTION: A Study of Indian Consumers

The use of celebrity endorsements in advertising has become a trend and a perceived winning formula of corporate image building and product marketing. As existing media get increasingly cluttered, the need to stand out has become paramount and celebrities have proved to be the ideal way to ensure brand prominence. Research has shown that the use of celebrity endorsers brings many positive effects in terms of positive feelings towards the ad and the brand, a positive brand attitude and increased purchase intention for the brand. Numerous researches have proved empirically the effectiveness and the positive influence of celebrity endorsements in advertising, particularly on purchase intention. However, there is no common consensus on whether attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise of the celebrity endorsers have a significant impact on consumers’ purchase intention. Through a survey of 336 Indian respondents who are exposed to celebrity endorsements for various products/brands, the present study attempts to find out the impact of celebrity endorsements on consumers’ purchase intention. The three-dimensional scale proposed by Roobina Ohanian (1990) has been used for the purpose. Thus, the present study considers three attributes of celebrity endorsements as suggested by Ohanian - attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise. The study also attempts to find out the individual impact of these dimensions on consumers’ purchase intention. Exploratory factor analysis was used to reconfirm the factor structure. The model used was empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity, using confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling was used to find out the impact of celebrity endorsements on purchase intention. Results reveal that celebrity endorsements have a significant impact on consumers’ purchase intention. However, the beta coefficients reveal a low degree of correlation between celebrity endorsements and purchase intention. Further, attractiveness and trustworthiness are found to have a significant impact on the purchase intention, while expertise did not have a significant impact on purchase intention.</jats:p