Plant Cell Walls
For my PhD dissertation, I studied the structure and biomechanics of plant cell walls and mechanisms of cell wall loosening using atomic force microscopy. I am fortunate to use such a cool tool to see an entirely different world of plants!
The background of the cover image (violet) shows an epidermal peel with cells ripped open, exposing the most recently deposited surface of the outer epidermal wall. The foreground displays AFM montages in two modes collected simultaneously from such a surface. Individual microfibrils (3.5 nm) are seen to merge into and out of regions of microfibril bundling, forming a meso-scale reticulated network.
Artistic depiction of the cell wall. Cellulose microfibrils were traced in blue. Red regions indicate potential biomechanical hotspots where two or more microfibrils merge into close contact. Highly dispersed, mobile pectins are represented in yellow (different textures to indicate different pectic domains) whereas xyloglucans are shown as green coiled structures anchored to microfibril surfaces at limited locations. Cosgrove, D. J. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 22, 122–131 (2014).
My AFM image was chosen for the 19th Plant Biology Symposium at Penn State, "Cellulose synthesis, structure, matrix interactions and technology". May 16-18, 2013
The background of the cover image (violet) shows an epidermal peel with cells ripped open, exposing the most recently deposited surface of the outer epidermal wall. The foreground displays AFM montages in two modes collected simultaneously from such a surface. Individual microfibrils (3.5 nm) are seen to merge into and out of regions of microfibril bundling, forming a meso-scale reticulated network.
Publications
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Zhang T, Zheng YZ, Cosgrove DJ. (2016) Spatial organization of cellulose microfibrils and matrix polysaccharides in primary plant cell walls as imaged by multi-channel atomic force microscopy. Plant J. 85: 179-192. (Featured article)
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Xiao CW, Zhang T, Zheng YZ, Cosgrove DJ, Anderson CT. (2016) Xyloglucan deficiency disrupts microtubule stability and cellulose biosynthesis in Arabidopsis, altering cell growth and morphogenesis. Plant Physiol. 170: 234-249
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Lei L, Zhang T, Strasser R, Lee CM, Gonneau M, Mach L, Vernhettes S, Kim SH, Cosgrove DJ, Li SD, Gu Y. (2014) The jiaoyao1 mutant is an allele of korrigan1 that abolishes endoglucanase activity and affects the organization of both cellulose microfibrils and microtubules. The Plant Cell. 26: 2601-2616.
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Zhang T, Mahgsoudy-Louyeh S, Tittmann B, Cosgrove DJ. (2014) Visualization of the nanoscale pattern of recently-deposited cellulose microfibrils and matrix materials in never-dried primary walls of the onion epidermis. Cellulose. 21: 853-862.