scholarly journals Preferred crystallographic orientation of cellulose in plant primary cell walls

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Ye ◽  
Sintu Rongpipi ◽  
Sarah N. Kiemle ◽  
William J. Barnes ◽  
Arielle M. Chaves ◽  
...  

Abstract Cellulose, the most abundant biopolymer on earth, is a versatile, energy rich material found in the cell walls of plants, bacteria, algae, and tunicates. It is well established that cellulose is crystalline, although the orientational order of cellulose crystallites normal to the plane of the cell wall has not been characterized. A preferred orientational alignment of cellulose crystals could be an important determinant of the mechanical properties of the cell wall and of cellulose-cellulose and cellulose-matrix interactions. Here, the crystalline structures of cellulose in primary cell walls of onion (Allium cepa), the model eudicot Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and moss (Physcomitrella patens) were examined through grazing incidence wide angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). We find that GIWAXS can decouple diffraction from cellulose and epicuticular wax crystals in cell walls. Pole figures constructed from a combination of GIWAXS and X-ray rocking scans reveal that cellulose crystals have a preferred crystallographic orientation with the (200) and (110)/($$1\bar 10$$ 1 1 ¯ 0 ) planes preferentially stacked parallel to the cell wall. This orientational ordering of cellulose crystals, termed texturing in materials science, represents a previously unreported measure of cellulose organization and contradicts the predominant hypothesis of twisting of microfibrils in plant primary cell walls.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Ye ◽  
Sarah N. Kiemle ◽  
Sintu Rongpipi ◽  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Cheng Wang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
G.E. Ice

The increasing availability of synchrotron x-ray sources has stimulated the development of advanced hard x-ray (E≥5 keV) microprobes. With new x-ray optics these microprobes can achieve micron and submicron spatial resolutions. The inherent elemental and crystallographic sensitivity of an x-ray microprobe and its inherently nondestructive and penetrating nature will have important applications to materials science. For example, x-ray fluorescent microanalysis of materials can reveal elemental distributions with greater sensitivity than alternative nondestructive probes. In materials, segregation and nonuniform distributions are the rule rather than the exception. Common interfaces to whichsegregation occurs are surfaces, grain and precipitate boundaries, dislocations, and surfaces formed by defects such as vacancy and interstitial configurations. In addition to chemical information, an x-ray diffraction microprobe can reveal the local structure of a material by detecting its phase, crystallographic orientation and strain.Demonstration experiments have already exploited the penetrating nature of an x-ray microprobe and its inherent elemental sensitivity to provide new information about elemental distributions in novel materials.


Holzforschung ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjun Li ◽  
Chengjian Huang ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Siqun Wang ◽  
Xinzhou Wang

Abstract The effects of thermal treatment of bamboo at 130, 150, 170, and 190°C for 2, 4, and 6 h were investigated in terms of changes in chemical composition, cellulose crystallinity, and mechanical behavior of the cell-wall level by means of wet chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nanoindentation (NI). Particularly, the reduced elastic modulus (Er), hardness (H), and creep behavior were in focus. Both the temperature and treatment time showed significant effects. Expectedly, the hemicelluloses were degraded and the relative lignin content was elevated, while the crystallinity of the cellulose moiety was increased upon thermal treatment. The Er and H data of the cell wall were increased after 6 h treatment at 190°C, from 18.4 to 22.0 GPa and from 0.45 to 0.65 GPa, respectively. The thermal treatment led to a decrease of the creep ratio (CIT) under the same conditions by ca. 28%. The indentation strain state (εi) also decreased significantly after thermal treatment during the load-holding stage.


2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1486-1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.M. Bruce ◽  
R.N. Hobson ◽  
J.W. Farrent ◽  
D.G. Hepworth

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 1974-1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Batisse ◽  
P. J. Coulomb ◽  
C. Coulomb ◽  
M. Buret

The changes in texture of fruits during ripening are linked to cell wall degradation involving synthesis and degradation of polymers. An increase in pectin solubility leads to cell sliding and an elastic aspect of tissues. The biochemical cell wall process differs between soft and crisp fruits originating from a same cultivar but cultivated under different agroclimatic conditions. Although the proportions of cell wall material are similar, the composition and structure of the two cell walls are very different at maturity. A solubilization of the middle lamella and a restructuration of the primary cell walls arising from the cells separation is observed in crisp fruits. In contrast, the middle lamella of the soft fruits is better preserved and the primary cell walls are thin and show degradation bags delimited by residual membrane formations. In addition, the macroendocytosis process by endosome individualization is more important in soft fruits. In conclusion, the fruit texture depends on the extent of the links between cell wall polymers. Keywords: cherry, cell wall, texture, ultrastructural study.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beda M. Yapo

Rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) is a type of block copolymer of complex pectins that represents a quantitatively minor component of the primary cell walls of land (vascular) plants. The structural composition of RG-II is almost totally sequenced and appears to be remarkably conserved in all tracheophytes so far examined. The backbone of RG-II, released from complex (cell wall) pectins by endo-polygalacturonase (Endo-PG) treatment, has been found to contain up to 15 (1→4)-linked-α-D-GalpA units, some of which carry four well-defined side chains, often referred to as A-, B-, C-, and D-side chains. Nevertheless, the relative locations on the backbone of these four branches, especially the A chain, remain to be ascertained. A combination of different data suggests that neither the terminal nonreducing GalA nor the contiguous GalA unit is likely to be the branching point of the A chain, but probably the ninth GalA residue from the reducing end, assuming a minimum backbone length of 11 (1→4)-linked-α-d-GalpA. The latest reports on RG-II are here highlighted, with a provided update for the macrostructure and array of functionalities.


2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 1074-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Larry Peterson ◽  
Hugues B Massicotte

The roots or other subterranean organs of most plants develop symbioses, mycorrhizas, with fungal symbionts. Historically, mycorrhizas have been placed into seven categories based primarily on structural characteristics. A new category has been proposed for symbiotic associations of some leafy liverworts. An important feature of mycorrhizas is the interface involved in nutrient exchange between the symbionts. With the exception of ectomycorrhizas, in which fungal hyphae remain external to plant cell walls, all mycorrhizas are characterized by fungal hyphae breaching cell walls but remaining separated from the cell cytoplasm by a plant-derived membrane and an interfacial matrix that forms an apoplastic compartment. The chemical composition of the interfacial matrix varies in complexity. In arbuscular mycorrhizas (both Arum-type and Paris-type), molecules typical of plant primary cell walls (i.e., cellulose, pectins, β-1,3-glucans, hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins) are present. In ericoid mycorrhizas, only rhamnogalacturonans occur in the interfacial matrix surrounding intracellular hyphal complexes. The matrix around intracellular hyphal complexes in orchid mycorrhizas lacks plant cell wall compounds until hyphae begin to senesce, then molecules similar to those found in primary cell walls are deposited. The interfacial matrix has not been studied in arbutoid mycorrhizas and ectendomycorrhizas. In ectomycorrhizas, the apoplastic interface consists of plant cell wall and fungal cell wall; alterations in these may enhance nutrient transfer. In all mycorrhizas, nutrients must pass into the symplast of both partners at some point, and therefore current research is exploring the nature of the opposing membranes, particularly in relation to phosphorus and sugar transporters.Key words: interface, apoplastic compartment, Hartig net, arbuscule, intracellular complex, nutrient exchange.


1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Scurfield

Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis have been used to examine the structure and mineralogical make-up of 79 Australian petrified woods. Initiation of petrifaction appears to rely on the provision of a substrate with inherent porosity, with the substrate components chemically rather inert and only slowly degraded at normal temperatures and pressures under conditions probably most often acid and tending to anaerobic, and the pores sufficiently large to allow access of an appropriate mineral in ionic or colloidal form in water. Stages in the process include entry of mineral solution into the wood via splits or checks, cell lumina, and other voids; permeation of cell walls; progressive dissolution of cell wall components beginning largely with lignin and accompanied by a build-up of a mineral framework adequate for maintaining the dimensional stability of the wood; mineral deposition in cell lumina after cell wall replacement as a continuous, intermittent, perhaps separate, but not obligatory event; mineral deposition in voids present or formed by dissolution of intercellular substance as a separate, but not obligatory event; and final lithification involving loss of water and perhaps replacement of one mineral by another.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-136
Author(s):  
W. Wayne Wilcox

Loss of cell wall birefringence under polarised light in the light microscope is an important diagnostic characteristic for early stages of brown rot wood decay not available with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Osmium tetroxide staining was explored as a means of visualising this early manifestation of decay in the SEM, but proved unsuccessful as X-ray spectroscopy indicated that osmium was evenly distributed across both distorted and non-distorted cell walls.


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