scholarly journals Thickness-dependent stiffness of wood: potential mechanisms and implications

Holzforschung ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 1079-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Guo ◽  
Clemens M. Altaner ◽  
Michael C. Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Composite Materials ◽  
Tensile Stress ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Axial Plane ◽  
Cellulose Microfibrils ◽  
Tensile Stiffness ◽  
Thin Samples

AbstractWhen wood is split or cut along the grain, a reduction in tensile stiffness has been observed. The averaged mechanical properties of wood samples, veneers or splinters therefore change when their thickness is less than about 1 mm. The loss of stiffness increases as the thickness approaches that of a single cell. The mechanism of the effect depends on whether the longitudinal fission plane is between or through the cells. Isolated single cells are a model for fission between cells. Each cell within bulk wood is prevented from twisting by attachment to its neighbours. Separation of adjacent cells lifts this restriction on twisting and facilitates elongation as the cellulose microfibrils reorientate towards the stretching direction. In contrast when the wood is cut or split along the centre of the cells, it appears that co-operative action by the S1, S2 and S3 cell-wall layers in resisting tensile stress may be disrupted. Since much of what is known about the nanoscale mechanism of wood deformation comes from experiments on thin samples, caution is needed in applying this knowledge to structural-sized timber. The loss of stiffness at longitudinal fracture faces may augment the remarkable capacity of wood to resist fracture by deflecting cracks into the axial plane. These observations also point to mechanisms for enhancing toughness that are unique to wood and have biomimetic potential for the design of composite materials.

scholarly journals The Structure and Plastic Properties of the Cell Wall of Nitella in Relation to Extension Growth

1966 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
MC Probine ◽  
NF Barber
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Growth ◽  
Elastic Properties ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Cellulose Microfibrils ◽  
Theoretical Treatment ◽  
Plastic Properties ◽  
Growing Cell ◽  
Plastic Matrix

The internodal cells of Nitella opaca L. have been used in earlier studies to assess the part which mechanical properties of the wall may play in the control of cell growth (Probine and Preston 1962). The wall is mechanically anisotropic in both its plastic and elastic properties, and it is shown in this paper by an approximate theoretical treatment that a mat of cellulose microfibrils, embedded in a plastic matrix and having a distribution in the plane of the wall like that observed in Nitella, would lead to longitUdinal and transverse plastic extensions in the ratio observed in the growing cell. Factors which would affect cell shape are discussed.

scholarly journals Protein sensors of bacterial kinase activity reveal antibiotic-dependent kinase activation in single cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine R. Zheng ◽  
Abhyudai Singh ◽  
Alexandra Libby ◽  
Pamela A. Silver ◽  
Elizabeth A. Libby
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Kinase Activity ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Protein Kinase Activity ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Signaling Systems ◽  
New Sensors

A lack of direct single-cell readouts for bacterial kinase activity remains a major barrier to our understanding of most signaling systems. At the single-cell-level, protein kinase activity is typically inferred by the activity of downstream transcriptional reporters. Complicating this approach in vivo, promoters are often co-regulated by several pathways, making the activity of a specific kinase difficult to deconvolve. Here, we have designed and constructed new, direct and specific sensors of bacterial kinase activity, including FRET-based sensors, as well as a synthetic transcription factor that responds to phosphorylation. We demonstrate the utility of these reporters in measuring kinase activity in population-based and single-cell assays during various growth phases and antibiotic treatments. These sensors respond to a highly conserved bacterial Ser/Thr kinase, PrkC that has no known dedicated transcription factor and whose regulon is known to be convolved with an essential signaling system. We used these new sensors to measure PrkC activity in colonies, bulk culture, and single cells. Together these new sensors provide evidence for considerable heterogeneity in PrkC activity in actively growing populations. We further demonstrate that PrkC activity increases in response to a cell-wall active antibiotic that blocks the late steps in peptidoglycan synthesis (cefotaxime), but not the early steps (fosfomycin). This is consistent with a model where PrkC senses and responds to blocks in the extracellular steps in cell wall synthesis. As the design of these phosphorylation sensors is modular, we anticipate that this work may have broad applications to other bacterial signaling systems in the future.

scholarly journals An acoustic platform for single-cell, high-throughput measurements of the viscoelastic properties of cells

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Romanov ◽  
Giulia Silvani ◽  
Huiyu Zhu ◽  
Charles D Cox ◽  
Boris Martinac
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Adherent Cells ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Membrane Cytoskeleton ◽  
Change Temperature

ABSTRACTCellular processes including adhesion, migration and differentiation are governed by the distinct mechanical properties of each cell. Importantly, the mechanical properties of individual cells can vary depending on local physical and biochemical cues in a time-dependent manner resulting in significant inter-cell heterogeneity. While several different methods have been developed to interrogate the mechanical properties of single cells, throughput to capture this heterogeneity remains an issue. While new high-throughput techniques are slowly emerging, they are primarily aimed at characterizing cells in suspension, whereas high-throughput measurements of adherent cells have proven to be more challenging. Here, we demonstrate single-cell, high-throughput characterization of adherent cells using acoustic force spectroscopy. We demonstrate that cells undergo marked changes in viscoelasticity as a function of temperature, the measurements of which are facilitated by a closed microfluidic culturing environment that can rapidly change temperature between 21 °C and 37 °C. In addition, we show quantitative differences in cells exposed to different pharmacological treatments specifically targeting the membrane-cytoskeleton interface. Further, we utilize the high-throughput format of the AFS to rapidly probe, in excess of 1000 cells, three different cell-lines expressing different levels of a mechanosensitive protein, Piezo1, demonstrating the ability to differentiate between cells based on protein expression levels.

Orientation of macromolecules in the walls of elongating carrot cells

1993 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 1347-1356
Author(s):  
M.C. McCann ◽  
N.J. Stacey ◽  
R. Wilson ◽  
K. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Cellulose Microfibrils ◽  
Replica Technique ◽  
Carrot Cells ◽  
Carrot Cell ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Complementary Techniques ◽  
Carrot Cell Suspension ◽  
Wall Components

When round cells from a carrot cell suspension culture are diluted into fresh medium without auxin, the cells elongate to almost 50 times their original diameter within three days. This process of elongation is accompanied by changes in both the composition and the orientation of cell wall polymers. We have obtained information on the orientation of wall polymers in elongating cells by two complementary techniques, one using microscopy and one spectroscopy. Images obtained by the fast-freeze, deep-etch, rotary-shadowed replica technique show that walls of round carrot cells have no net orientation of cellulose microfibrils, and that many thin fibres can be seen cross-linking microfibrils. Walls of elongated carrot cells, in contrast, show a marked net orientation of microfibrils at right angles to the axis of elongation. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra obtained from defined areas of single cell walls show that walls of round carrot cells contain more protein, esters and phenolics in a given area (10 microns × 10 microns) than walls of elongated carrot cells, that contain proportionally more carbohydrate. The orientation of particular functional groups, with respect to the direction of elongation of the cell, can be determined by inserting a polariser into the path of the infrared beam, before it passes through a cell wall sample mounted on the stage of the microscope accessory. In the walls of elongated cells, ester bands, amide bands characteristic of proteins, and stretching frequencies in the carbohydrate region of the spectrum all show a net orientation transverse to the long axis of the cells. In the walls of round carrot cells, however, there is no such net orientation of polymers. Spectra obtained from 25 microns-thick fresh sections of the etiolated stem of a carrot seedling show that different wall components are polarised in different tissue types. These techniques have therefore enabled us to define differences in both the composition and the architecture of walls of elongating cells at the level of a single cell, and to suggest that polymers not previously thought to be ordered, such as pectin and protein, are strictly oriented in some wall types.

The interrelation between microfibril angle (MFA) and hygrothermal recovery (HTR) in compression wood and normal wood of Sugi and Agathis

Holzforschung ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 823-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Midori Tanaka ◽  
Hiroyuki Yamamoto ◽  
Miho Kojima ◽  
Masato Yoshida ◽  
Miyuki Matsuo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Tensile Stress ◽  
Compressive Stress ◽  
Matrix Theory ◽  
Microfibril Angle ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Cellulose Microfibrils ◽  
Elastic Component ◽  
Normal Wood ◽  
Axial Tensile

Abstract Tree growth stress (GS) consists of an elastic component and a viscoelastic locked-in component. The elastic component is released instantaneously by cutting wood, whereas the locked-in component remains. The latter can be released by hot water treatment, which is known as hygrothermal recovery (HTR). In this paper the mechanism behind HTR is described and interpreted in terms of the microfibril angle (MFA) in the cell wall as follows: during cell-wall maturation, axial tensile stress is generated in the cellulose microfibrils (CMF), whereas isotropic compressive stress is generated in the matrix of lignin-hemicellulose (MT). Some amount of microscopic stresses remains following the removal of the wood from the living stem. Hygrothermal (HT) treatment induces recovery of remaining compressive stress in the MT, which causes its expansion. Axial tensile stress in the CMF are released by HT softening of the MT. This causes the CMF to contract along its length and to expand laterally. The combined effect of the expansions of the MT and contraction of the CMF causes the wood to deform anisotropically. This is the HTR of wood. The degree of anisotropy is determined by the MFA on the basis of reinforced-matrix theory.

scholarly journals Osmolyte homeostasis controls single-cell growth rate and maximum cell size of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Altenburg ◽  
Björn Goldenbogen ◽  
Jannis Uhlendorf ◽  
Edda Klipp
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Growth ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Turgor Pressure ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
Cell Growth Rate ◽  
Final Size

Abstract Cell growth is well described at the population level, but precisely how nutrient and water uptake and cell wall expansion drive the growth of single cells is poorly understood. Supported by measurements of single-cell growth trajectories and cell wall elasticity, we present a single-cell growth model for yeast. The model links the thermodynamic quantities, such as turgor pressure, osmolarity, cell wall elasto-plasticity, and cell size, applying concepts from rheology and thin shell theory. It reproduces cell size dynamics during single-cell growth, budding, and hyper-osmotic or hypo-osmotic stress. We find that single-cell growth rate and final size are primarily governed by osmolyte uptake and consumption, while bud expansion requires additionally different cell wall extensibilities between mother and bud. Based on first principles the model provides a more accurate description of size dynamics than previous attempts and its analytical simplification allows for easy combination with models for other cell processes.

scholarly journals Osmolyte homeostasis controls single-cell growth rate and maximum cell size ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Altenburg ◽  
Björn Goldenbogen ◽  
Jannis Uhlendorf ◽  
Edda Klipp
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Growth ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Turgor Pressure ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
Cell Growth Rate ◽  
Final Size

Cell growth is well described at the population level, but precisely how nutrient and water uptake and cell wall expansion drive the growth of single cells is poorly understood. Supported by measurements of single-cell growth trajectories and cell wall elasticity, we present a single-cell growth model for yeast. The model links the thermodynamic quantities turgor pressure, osmolarity, cell wall elasto-plasticity, and cell size, using concepts from rheology and thin shell theory. It reproduces cell size dynamics during single-cell growth, budding, and hyper- or hypoosmotic stress. We find that single-cell growth rate and final size are primarily governed by osmolyte uptake and consumption, while bud expansion depends additionally on different cell wall extensibilities of mother and bud. Based on first principles the model provides a more accurate description of size dynamics than previous attempts and its analytical simplification allows for easy combination with models for other cell processes.

scholarly journals KATANIN-dependent mechanical properties of the stigmatic cell wall mediate the pollen tube path in Arabidopsis

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Riglet ◽  
Frédérique Rozier ◽  
Chie Kodera ◽  
Simone Bovio ◽  
Julien Sechet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Pollen Tube ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Pollen Tubes ◽  
Mechanical Anisotropy ◽  
Cellulose Microfibrils ◽  
Cortical Microtubules ◽  
Isotropic Reorientation

Successful fertilization in angiosperms depends on the proper trajectory of pollen tubes through the pistil tissues to reach the ovules. Pollen tubes first grow within the cell wall of the papilla cells, applying pressure to the cell. Mechanical forces are known to play a major role in plant cell shape by controlling the orientation of cortical microtubules (CMTs), which in turn mediate deposition of cellulose microfibrils (CMFs). Here, by combining imaging, genetic and chemical approaches, we show that isotropic reorientation of CMTs and CMFs in aged Col-0 and katanin1-5 (ktn1-5) papilla cells is accompanied by a tendency of pollen tubes to coil around the papillae. We show that this coiled phenotype is associated with specific mechanical properties of the cell walls that provide less resistance to pollen tube growth. Our results reveal an unexpected role for KTN1 in pollen tube guidance on the stigma by ensuring mechanical anisotropy of the papilla cell wall.

scholarly journals Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Batch Chlamydomonas Cultures Reveals Heterogeneity in their Diurnal Cycle Phase

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feiyang Ma ◽  
Patrice A Salomé ◽  
Sabeeha S Merchant ◽  
Matteo Pellegrini
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Rna Sequencing ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Nitrogen Deficiency ◽  
Cycle Phase ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Single Cell Rna Sequencing ◽  
A Cell

Abstract The photosynthetic unicellular alga Chlamydomonas (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) is a versatile reference for algal biology because of its ease of culture in the laboratory. Genomic and systems biology approaches have previously described transcriptome responses to environmental changes using bulk data, thus representing the average behavior from pools of cells. Here, we apply single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to probe the heterogeneity of Chlamydomonas cell populations under three environments and in two genotypes differing by the presence of a cell wall. First, we determined that RNA can be extracted from single algal cells with or without a cell wall, offering the possibility to sample natural algal communities. Second, scRNA-seq successfully separated single cells into non-overlapping cell clusters according to their growth conditions. Cells exposed to iron or nitrogen deficiency were easily distinguished despite a shared tendency to arrest photosynthesis and cell division to economize resources. Notably, these groups of cells recapitulated known patterns observed with bulk RNA-seq, but also revealed their inherent heterogeneity. A substantial source of variation between cells originated from their endogenous diurnal phase, although cultures were grown in constant light. We exploited this result to show that circadian iron responses may be conserved from algae to land plants. We document experimentally that bulk RNA-seq data represent an average of typically hidden heterogeneity in the population.

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