Size, Shape, and Arrangement of Cellulose Microfibril in Higher Plant Cell Walls: Abstract No. CELL-18

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

Plant cell walls from maize (Zea mays L.) are imaged using atomic force microscopy (AFM) at the sub-nanometer resolution. We found that the size and shape of fundamental cellulose elementary fibril (CEF) is essentially identical in different cell wall types, i.e., primary wall (PW), parenchyma secondary wall (pSW), and sclerenchyma secondary wall (sSW), which is consistent with previouslyproposed 36-chain model (Ding et al., 2006, J. Agric. Food Chem.). The arrangement of individual CEFs in these wall types exhibits two orientations. In PW, CEFs are horizontally associated through their hydrophilic faces, and the planar faces are exposed, forming ribbon-like macrofibrils. In pSW and sSW, CEFs are vertically oriented, forming layers, in which hemicelluloses are interacted withthe hydrophobic faces of the CEF and serve as spacers between CEFs. Lignification occurs between CEF-hemicelluloses layers in secondary walls. Furthermore, we demonstrated quantitative analysis of plant cell wall accessibility to and digestibility by different cellulase systems at real-time using chemical imaging (e.g., stimulated Raman scattering) and fluorescence microscopy of labeledcellulases (Ding et al., 2012, Science, in press).
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2013
EventAmerican Chemical Society. 245th ACS National Meeting - New Orleans, Louisiana
Duration: 7 Apr 201311 Apr 2013

Conference

ConferenceAmerican Chemical Society. 245th ACS National Meeting
CityNew Orleans, Louisiana
Period7/04/1311/04/13

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-2700-58851

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