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Title: Nanoscale movements of cellulose microfibrils in primary cell walls

Journal Article · · Nature Plants (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF) and Dept. of Biology
  2. Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics

The growing plant cell wall is commonly considered to be a fibre-reinforced structure whose strength, extensibility and anisotropy depend on the orientation of crystalline cellulose microfibrils, their bonding to the polysaccharide matrix and matrix viscoelasticity. Structural reinforcement of the wall by stiff cellulose microfibrils is central to contemporary models of plant growth, mechanics and meristem dynamics. Although passive microfibril reorientation during wall extension has been inferred from theory and from bulk measurements, nanometre-scale movements of individual microfibrils have not been directly observed. For this, we combined nanometre-scale imaging of wet cell walls by atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a stretching device and endoglucanase treatment that induces wall stress relaxation and creep, mimicking wall behaviours during cell growth. Microfibril movements during forced mechanical extensions differ from those during creep of the enzymatically loosened wall. In addition to passive angular reorientation, we observed a diverse repertoire of microfibril movements that reveal the spatial scale of molecular connections between microfibrils. Our results show that wall loosening alters microfibril connectivity, enabling microfibril dynamics not seen during mechanical stretch. These insights into microfibril movements and connectivities need to be incorporated into refined models of plant cell wall structure, growth and morphogenesis.

Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0001090; R01GM098430
OSTI ID:
1463092
Journal Information:
Nature Plants (Online), Vol. 3, Issue 5; ISSN 2055-0278
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 81 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (24)

Pectin methylesterase selectively softens the onion epidermal wall yet reduces acid-induced creep journal February 2020
The role of COBRA ‐ LIKE 2 function, as part of the complex network of interacting pathways regulating Arabidopsis seed mucilage polysaccharide matrix organization journal March 2018
Tensile Testing of Primary Plant Cells and Tissues book January 2018
Extracellular peptide Kratos restricts cell death during vascular development and stress in Arabidopsis journal February 2019
Progress and Opportunities in the Characterization of Cellulose – An Important Regulator of Cell Wall Growth and Mechanics journal March 2019
Automated Tracking of Biopolymer Growth and Network Deformation with TSOAX posted_content May 2018
A wall with integrity: surveillance and maintenance of the plant cell wall under stress journal September 2019
Functional identification of an EXPA gene (NcEXPA8) isolated from the tree Neolamarckia cadamba text January 2017
Cellular perspectives for improving mesophyll conductance journal January 2020
Molecular-level driving forces in lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction for bioenergy journal October 2018
Functional identification of an EXPA gene ( NcEXPA8 ) isolated from the tree Neolamarckia cadamba journal September 2017
Electrostatic contribution to hysteresis loop in piezoresponse force microscopy journal April 2019
Automated Tracking of Biopolymer Growth and Network Deformation with TSOAX journal February 2019
Functional identification of an EXPA gene (NcEXPA8) isolated from the tree Neolamarckia cadamba text January 2017
Probing cellulose structures with vibrational spectroscopy journal January 2019
How water flow, geometry, and material properties drive plant movements journal April 2019
Xyloglucan in the primary cell wall: assessment by FESEM , selective enzyme digestions and nanogold affinity tags journal December 2017
Nanoscale movements of cellulose microfibrils in primary cell walls journal April 2017
Volumetric finite-element modelling of biological growth journal May 2019
Resonant soft X-ray scattering reveals cellulose microfibril spacing in plant primary cell walls journal August 2018
Disentangling loosening from softening: insights into primary cell wall structure journal September 2019
Atomic force microscopy-based mechanobiology journal November 2018
On Pectin Methyl-esterification: Implications for In vitro and In vivo Viscoelasticity posted_content March 2019
Growing cell walls show a gradient of elastic strain across their layers journal June 2018

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