β-1,4-galactan might also play a role in cell elongation by altering the cell wall properties . Furthermore, β-1,4-galactan is believed to be a water retaining viscoelastic component with a likely role in modulating the mechanical properties of cell wall. Nevertheless, even Arabidopsis triple mutants in all three GALS genes showed no observable growth or developmental phenotype under standard laboratory conditions . However, given the conservation across plants of β-1,4-galactan it must serve an important role. Surprisingly, the involvement of β-1,4-galactan in plant response to abiotic stresses has not been reported.