A corporation that runs nursing homes in Texas and its top management went on trial today on charges of murdering an 87-year-old woman by neglect.

''From the first day until her last breath, she was unattended to and allowed to lie day and night in her own urine and waste,'' David Marks, an assistant attorney general, said in State District Court.

The defense will contend that the woman, Elnora Breed, died of cancer.

The case has drawn national attention since charges first emerged four years ago that as many as 60 elderly people had died from substandard care at the Autumn Hills nursing home in Texas City, near Galveston. The trial is expected to last as long as four months and involve conflicting testimony from hundreds of experts.

First Such Indictment in Texas

On trial are Autumn Hills Convalescent Centers, a corporation based in Houston; its owner, Robert Gay, 58 years old; the president, Ron Pohlmeyer, 41; a nursing consultant, Mattie Locke, 42; the administrator, Virginia Wilson, 62; and the former director of nurses at the home, Cassandra Canlas, 31. A spokesman for Attorney General Jim Mattox said it was the first time a corporation had been indicted on charges of murder in Texas.