scholarly journals The hierarchical structure and mechanics of plant materials

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (76) ◽  
pp. 2749-2766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna J. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Cellular Structure ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Plant Cell Walls ◽  
Cellulose Fibres ◽  
Plant Materials ◽  
Wide Range

The cell walls in plants are made up of just four basic building blocks: cellulose (the main structural fibre of the plant kingdom) hemicellulose, lignin and pectin. Although the microstructure of plant cell walls varies in different types of plants, broadly speaking, cellulose fibres reinforce a matrix of hemicellulose and either pectin or lignin. The cellular structure of plants varies too, from the largely honeycomb-like cells of wood to the closed-cell, liquid-filled foam-like parenchyma cells of apples and potatoes and to composites of these two cellular structures, as in arborescent palm stems. The arrangement of the four basic building blocks in plant cell walls and the variations in cellular structure give rise to a remarkably wide range of mechanical properties: Young's modulus varies from 0.3 MPa in parenchyma to 30 GPa in the densest palm, while the compressive strength varies from 0.3 MPa in parenchyma to over 300 MPa in dense palm. The moduli and compressive strength of plant materials span this entire range. This study reviews the composition and microstructure of the cell wall as well as the cellular structure in three plant materials (wood, parenchyma and arborescent palm stems) to explain the wide range in mechanical properties in plants as well as their remarkable mechanical efficiency.

scholarly journals Roles of Cellulose and Xyloglucan in Determining the Mechanical Properties of Primary Plant Cell Walls

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 657-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E.C. Whitney ◽  
Michelle G.E. Gothard ◽  
John T. Mitchell ◽  
Michael J. Gidley
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Plant Cell Walls

scholarly journals Mechanical Properties of Plant Cell Walls Probed by Relaxation Spectra

2010 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 246-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steen Laugesen Hansen ◽  
Peter Martin Ray ◽  
Anders Ola Karlsson ◽  
Bodil Jørgensen ◽  
Bernhard Borkhardt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Plant Cell Walls ◽  
Relaxation Spectra

scholarly journals Wood hemicelluloses exert distinct biomechanical contributions to cellulose fibrillar networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie Berglund ◽  
Deirdre Mikkelsen ◽  
Bernadine M. Flanagan ◽  
Sushil Dhital ◽  
Stefan Gaunitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Plant Cell Walls ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Hardwood Species ◽  
Tension And Compression ◽  
Bacterial Model ◽  
Secondary Plant

Abstract Hemicelluloses, a family of heterogeneous polysaccharides with complex molecular structures, constitute a fundamental component of lignocellulosic biomass. However, the contribution of each hemicellulose type to the mechanical properties of secondary plant cell walls remains elusive. Here we homogeneously incorporate different combinations of extracted and purified hemicelluloses (xylans and glucomannans) from softwood and hardwood species into self-assembled networks during cellulose biosynthesis in a bacterial model, without altering the morphology and the crystallinity of the cellulose bundles. These composite hydrogels can be therefore envisioned as models of secondary plant cell walls prior to lignification. The incorporated hemicelluloses exhibit both a rigid phase having close interactions with cellulose, together with a flexible phase contributing to the multiscale architecture of the bacterial cellulose hydrogels. The wood hemicelluloses exhibit distinct biomechanical contributions, with glucomannans increasing the elastic modulus in compression, and xylans contributing to a dramatic increase of the elongation at break under tension. These diverging effects cannot be explained solely from the nature of their direct interactions with cellulose, but can be related to the distinct molecular structure of wood xylans and mannans, the multiphase architecture of the hydrogels and the aggregative effects amongst hemicellulose-coated fibrils. Our study contributes to understanding the specific roles of wood xylans and glucomannans in the biomechanical integrity of secondary cell walls in tension and compression and has significance for the development of lignocellulosic materials with controlled assembly and tailored mechanical properties.

scholarly journals Measuring the Mechanical Properties of Plant Cell Walls

Plants ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Vogler ◽  
Dimitrios Felekis ◽  
Bradley Nelson ◽  
Ueli Grossniklaus
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Plant Cell Walls

Nanoengineering colloidal and polymeric celluloses for threshold scale inhibition: towards universal biomass-based crystal modification

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Sheikhi ◽  
Ashok Kakkar ◽  
Theo G. M. van de Ven
Keyword(s):  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Crystal Modification ◽  
Plant Cell Walls ◽  
Scale Inhibition ◽  
Cellulose Fibrils ◽  
Ppm Level

The first family of threshold (ppm level) cellulose-based scale inhibitors and crystal modifiers has been developed through the chemical nanoengineering of cellulose fibrils, the building blocks of plant cell walls, overcoming the structural and chemical limitations of conventional nanocelluloses.

Exploration of cell wall architecture with the rapid-freeze deep-etch technique

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 128-129
Author(s):  
Béatrice Satiat-Jeunemaitre ◽  
Chris Hawes
Keyword(s):  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Molecular Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secretory Activity ◽  
Wall Structure ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Plant Cell Walls

The comprehension of the molecular architecture of plant cell walls is one of the best examples in cell biology which illustrates how developments in microscopy have extended the frontiers of a topic. Indeed from the first electron microscope observation of cell walls it has become apparent that our understanding of wall structure has advanced hand in hand with improvements in the technology of specimen preparation for electron microscopy. Cell walls are sub-cellular compartments outside the peripheral plasma membrane, the construction of which depends on a complex cellular biosynthetic and secretory activity (1). They are composed of interwoven polymers, synthesised independently, which together perform a number of varied functions. Biochemical studies have provided us with much data on the varied molecular composition of plant cell walls. However, the detailed intermolecular relationships and the three dimensional arrangement of the polymers in situ remains a mystery. The difficulty in establishing a general molecular model for plant cell walls is also complicated by the vast diversity in wall composition among plant species.

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