Scientists witness living plant cells generate cellulose and form cell walls

Summary

Artistic rendering of cellulose regenerating on a plant protoplast cell surface with zoomed out view. Cellulose is synthesized by plasma membrane-bound enzyme complexes (green) and assembles into a microfibril network (brown), forming the main scaffold for the cell wall. Credit: Ehsan Faridi/ Inmywork Studio/ Chundawat, Lee and Lam Labs In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose—a major constituent of all plant cell walls—a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production. The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, reveals a dynamic process never seen before and may provide practical applications for everyday products derived from plants, including enhanced textiles, biofuels, biodegradable plastics, and new medical products. The research is also expected to contribute to the fundamental knowledge while providing a new understanding of the formation of cell walls, the scientists said. It represents over six years of effort and collaboration among three laboratories from differing but complementary academic disciplines at Rutgers: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. A time-lapse video showing Arabidopsis cells generate cellulose fibrils. Credit: Lee Lab/Rutgers University "This work is the first direct visualization of how cellulose synthesizes and self-assembles into a dense fibril network on a plant cell surface, since Robert Hook's first microscopic observation of cell walls in 1667," said Sang-Hyuk Lee, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and an author of the study. "This study also provides entirely new insights into how simple, basic physical mechanisms such as diffu...