News tagged with plant cell walls
Making nature's best better to produce biofuels
If a tree falls in the forest and there are no enzymes to digest it, does it break down?
Feb 01, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Study offers insight into delicate biochemical balance required for plant growth
(PhysOrg.com) -- In an ongoing effort to understand how modifying plant cell walls might affect the production of biomass and its breakdown for use in biofuels, scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory ...
Jan 16, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
1
|
Study settles 125-year debate on how nitrogen-fixing bacteria breaches cell walls of legumes
A 125-year debate on how nitrogen-fixing bacteria are able to breach the cell walls of legumes has been settled. A paper to be published on Monday by John Innes Centre scientists reports that plants themselves allow bacteria ...
Dec 19, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Size matters: Sugars regulate communication between plant cells
Multicellular organisms must have a means for cells to communicate with one another. Past research has shown that plants possess the ability to directly transfer materials between adjacent cells, through holes in their cell ...
Dec 12, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
The heart of the plant
Food prices are soaring at the same time as the Earth's population is nearing 9 billion. As a result the need for increased crop yields is extremely important. New research led by Carnegie's Wolf Frommer into the system by ...
Dec 08, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
1
|
Growing knowledge in space
Plants are critical in supporting life on Earth, and with help from an experiment that flew onboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission, they also could transform living in space.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 01, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
Discovery changes how scientists think about plant cell wall formation
University of Georgia researchers have discovered that two proteins come together in an unexpected way to make a carbohydrate, a chain of sugar molecules, in plant cell walls. This fundamental discovery changes ...
Nov 22, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
A corny turn for biofuels from switchgrass
Many experts believe that advanced biofuels made from cellulosic biomass are the most promising alternative to petroleum-based liquid fuels for a renewable, clean, green, domestic source of transportation ...
Nov 18, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
4
|
Toward more cost-effective production of biofuels from plant lignocellulosic biomass
In 1925, Henry Ford observed that fuel is present in all vegetative matter that can be fermented and predicted that Americans would some day grow their own fuel. Last year, global biofuel production reached ...
Nov 16, 2011 |
3 / 5 (2) |
0
Dividing corn stover makes ethanol conversion more efficient
(PhysOrg.com) -- Not all parts of a corn stalk are equal, and they shouldn't be treated that way when creating cellulosic ethanol, say Purdue University researchers.
Oct 25, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Pretreatment, proper harvest time boost ethanol from switchgrass
Adding a pretreatment step would allow producers to get more ethanol from switchgrass harvested in the fall, according to a Purdue University study.
Aug 31, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Cracking cellulose: a step into the biofuels future
Scientists from the University of York have played a pivotal role in a discovery which could finally unlock the full potential of waste plant matter to replace oil as a fuel source.
Aug 31, 2011 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
7
|
Molecular chaperones traffic signaling proteins between cells in plant stem-cell maintenance pathway
Like all living things, plants depend for their growth and sustenance on elaborate signaling networks to maintain stem cells, cells that have an almost magical regenerative capacity. The signals sent through these networks ...
Aug 25, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Enzymes for cell wall synthesis conserved across species barriers
Plants have neither supportive bone tissue nor muscles, and yet they can form rigid structures like stalks and even tree trunks. This is due to the fact that plant cells are enveloped by a stable cell wall. The main component ...
Jul 14, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
Researchers discover a new switch in resistance to plant diseases
Powdery mildew is a tricky pathogen: The fungus can manipulate barley in a way that it is not only granted entry into the plant, but also gets the plant's cells to supply it with nutrients. A team of researchers at Technische ...
Jul 12, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
Cell wall
A cell wall is a tough, flexible and sometimes fairly rigid layer that surrounds some types of cells. It is located outside the cell membrane and provides these cells with structural support and protection, and also acts as a filtering mechanism. A major function of the cell wall is to act as a pressure vessel, preventing over-expansion when water enters the cell. They are found in plants, bacteria, fungi, algae, and some archaea. Animals and protozoa do not have cell walls.
The materials in a cell wall vary between species, and in plants and fungi also differ between cell types and developmental stages. In plants, the strongest component of the complex cell wall is a carbohydrate called cellulose, which is a polymer of glucose. In bacteria, peptidoglycan forms the cell wall. Archaean cell walls have various compositions, and may be formed of glycoprotein S-layers, pseudopeptidoglycan, or polysaccharides. Fungi possess cell walls made of the glucosamine polymer chitin, and algae typically possess walls made of glycoproteins and polysaccharides. Unusually, diatoms have a cell wall composed of silicic acid. Often, other accessory molecules are found anchored to the cell wall.
For more information about Cell wall, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
