Using a new method to isolate and reprogram plant cells into other cell types, biologists explored how banding patterns that increase the stability of plant cell walls are created and how their assembly can go astray in mutant plants. This work could ultimately inform methods to break down plant cells for biofuels.
A new method developed by Penn State biologists allows them to turn stripped-down plant cells into other types of cells, similar to the way stem cells differentiate into different cell types. Using this method, the research team explored the banding patterns that increase the stability of plant cell walls -- much like the corrugated patterns in cardboard -- and how they are created.
"The banding patterns in xylem tracheary elements act a lot like the corrugated pattern in cardboard, adding stability to the cell wall," Pfaff said."Using traditional methods, it was difficult to see individual cells to understand how this banding pattern breaks down in mutant cells. So we developed a method that lets us observe individual cells without any of the neighboring cells getting in the way.
The researchers found that certain interactions between cellulose and xylan are necessary for the bands to form correctly and that a properly assembled cell wall network of polymers acts as a scaffold to dictate the banding pattern. They also found that in different mutant cells, the banding pattern failed in different ways.
"Instead of breeding mutant plants together to get multiple different genetic traits in one plant, which might take many months, now you can explore different combinations in individual cells," Pfaff said."You could also use different kinds of genetic triggers to study other cell types, which could have implications across plant biology."
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