Methods to quantify primary plant cell wall mechanics

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (14) ◽  
pp. 3615-3648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir J Bidhendi ◽  
Anja Geitmann
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Polymer Network ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Tensile Tests ◽  
Mechanical Modeling ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Testing Techniques ◽  
Cell Wall Mechanics

Abstract The primary plant cell wall is a dynamically regulated composite material of multiple biopolymers that forms a scaffold enclosing the plant cells. The mechanochemical make-up of this polymer network regulates growth, morphogenesis, and stability at the cell and tissue scales. To understand the dynamics of cell wall mechanics, and how it correlates with cellular activities, several experimental frameworks have been deployed in recent years to quantify the mechanical properties of plant cells and tissues. Here we critically review the application of biomechanical tool sets pertinent to plant cell mechanics and outline some of their findings, relevance, and limitations. We also discuss methods that are less explored but hold great potential for the field, including multiscale in silico mechanical modeling that will enable a unified understanding of the mechanical behavior across the scales. Our overview reveals significant differences between the results of different mechanical testing techniques on plant material. Specifically, indentation techniques seem to consistently report lower values compared with tensile tests. Such differences may in part be due to inherent differences among the technical approaches and consequently the wall properties that they measure, and partly due to differences between experimental conditions.

scholarly journals DNA nanostructures coordinate gene silencing in mature plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (15) ◽  
pp. 7543-7548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Zhang ◽  
Gozde S. Demirer ◽  
Honglu Zhang ◽  
Tianzheng Ye ◽  
Natalie S. Goh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Gene Silencing ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Dna Nanostructures ◽  
Dna Nanostructure ◽  
The Impact

Delivery of biomolecules to plants relies onAgrobacteriuminfection or biolistic particle delivery, the former of which is amenable only to DNA delivery. The difficulty in delivering functional biomolecules such as RNA to plant cells is due to the plant cell wall, which is absent in mammalian cells and poses the dominant physical barrier to biomolecule delivery in plants. DNA nanostructure-mediated biomolecule delivery is an effective strategy to deliver cargoes across the lipid bilayer of mammalian cells; however, nanoparticle-mediated delivery without external mechanical aid remains unexplored for biomolecule delivery across the cell wall in plants. Herein, we report a systematic assessment of different DNA nanostructures for their ability to internalize into cells of mature plants, deliver siRNAs, and effectively silence a constitutively expressed gene inNicotiana benthamianaleaves. We show that nanostructure internalization into plant cells and corresponding gene silencing efficiency depends on the DNA nanostructure size, shape, compactness, stiffness, and location of the siRNA attachment locus on the nanostructure. We further confirm that the internalization efficiency of DNA nanostructures correlates with their respective gene silencing efficiencies but that the endogenous gene silencing pathway depends on the siRNA attachment locus. Our work establishes the feasibility of biomolecule delivery to plants with DNA nanostructures and both details the design parameters of importance for plant cell internalization and also assesses the impact of DNA nanostructure geometry for gene silencing mechanisms.

scholarly journals Plasmodesmata-Related Structural and Functional Proteins: The Long Sought-After Secrets of a Cytoplasmic Channel in Plant Cell Walls

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 2946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Han ◽  
Li-Jun Huang ◽  
Dan Feng ◽  
Wenhan Jiang ◽  
Wenzhuo Miu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Protein Composition ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Plant Cell Walls ◽  
Cell Organelles

Plant cells are separated by cellulose cell walls that impede direct cell-to-cell contact. In order to facilitate intercellular communication, plant cells develop unique cell-wall-spanning structures termed plasmodesmata (PD). PD are membranous channels that link the cytoplasm, plasma membranes, and endoplasmic reticulum of adjacent cells to provide cytoplasmic and membrane continuity for molecular trafficking. PD play important roles for the development and physiology of all plants. The structure and function of PD in the plant cell walls are highly dynamic and tightly regulated. Despite their importance, plasmodesmata are among the few plant cell organelles that remain poorly understood. The molecular properties of PD seem largely elusive or speculative. In this review, we firstly describe the general PD structure and its protein composition. We then discuss the recent progress in identification and characterization of PD-associated plant cell-wall proteins that regulate PD function, with particular emphasis on callose metabolizing and binding proteins, and protein kinases targeted to and around PD.

scholarly journals Primary cell wall inspired micro containers as a step towards a synthetic plant cell

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Paulraj ◽  
S. Wennmalm ◽  
D.C.F. Wieland ◽  
A. V. Riazanova ◽  
A. Dėdinaitė ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Lipid Vesicles ◽  
Primary Cell Wall ◽  
Living Plant ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Lipid Tubules

AbstractThe structural integrity of living plant cells heavily relies on the plant cell wall containing a nanofibrous cellulose skeleton. Hence, if synthetic plant cells consist of such a cell wall, they would allow for manipulation into more complex synthetic plant structures. Herein, we have overcome the fundamental difficulties associated with assembling lipid vesicles with cellulosic nanofibers (CNFs). We prepare plantosomes with an outer shell of CNF and pectin, and beneath this, a thin layer of lipids (oleic acid and phospholipids) that surrounds a water core. By exploiting the phase behavior of the lipids, regulated by pH and Mg2+ ions, we form vesicle-crowded interiors that change the outer dimension of the plantosomes, mimicking the expansion in real plant cells during, e.g., growth. The internal pressure enables growth of lipid tubules through the plantosome cell wall, which paves the way to the development of hierarchical plant structures and advanced synthetic plant cell mimics.

scholarly journals A Simple Technique For The Removal Of Plant Cell Protoplasm To Facilitate Scanning : Electron Microscopy Of Fungal Haustoria And Plant Cell Wall Features

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Richardson ◽  
C. W. Mims
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Simple Technique ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Host Cell Wall ◽  
Scanning Electron

Several years ago Honegger (1985) described a simple technique for removing plant cell protoplasm in order to reveal details of interfaces between plant cells and fungal structures. This technique involves the use of Ariel a commercially available washing powder (Proctor and Gamble) containing a Bacillus substilis derived protease. We since have used this technique with excellent results to examine not only the morphology of fungal haustoria inside leaf cells of various host plants but also features of the inner surface of the host cell wall with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Here we describe the procedure we have used to prepare samples for study and provide examples of the types of images we have obtained from our samples.

scholarly journals Pectin homogalacturonan nanofilament expansion drives morphogenesis in plant epidermal cells

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (6481) ◽  
pp. 1003-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalina T. Haas ◽  
Raymond Wightman ◽  
Elliot M. Meyerowitz ◽  
Alexis Peaucelle
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Plant Cell Wall ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Turgor Pressure ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Active Participant ◽  
Chemically Induced ◽  
Expansion Capacity

The process by which plant cells expand and gain shape has presented a challenge for researchers. Current models propose that these processes are driven by turgor pressure acting on the cell wall. Using nanoimaging, we show that the cell wall contains pectin nanofilaments that possess an intrinsic expansion capacity. Additionally, we use growth models containing such structures to show that a complex plant cell shape can derive from chemically induced local and polarized expansion of the pectin nanofilaments without turgor-driven growth. Thus, the plant cell wall, outside of the cell itself, is an active participant in shaping plant cells. Extracellular matrix function may similarly guide cell shape in other kingdoms, including Animalia.

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