Structural Characterization of Plant Cell Walls
As a leader in biophysical analysis, CD BioSciences is committed to continuously developing technologies for studying the structure of soft matter. We provide customers with emerging technologies based on diffraction/scattering, imaging and spectroscopy to accelerate their research on the characterization of cell walls.
Background
The cell wall of plants is made up of multiple polymers and structural proteins and is a complex dynamic network. Composed of three parts: the intercellular layer, the primary wall and the secondary wall, the cell wall serves to maintain cell morphology, enhance cellular mechanics and is involved in a number of physiological processes such as material transport, the regulation of plant water potential and intercellular communication.
In recent years, breakthroughs in biophysics have opened up new opportunities for the structural characterization of the cell wall. Current research is typically based on four types of techniques for the analysis of plant cell wall structure, including microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction/scattering and physicochemical analysis. In total, the combination of multiple emerging techniques to study the organization of cell wall components has provided researchers with an experimental basis for gaining insight into cell wall structure and assembly.
Fig.1 Tools enabling characterization of the primary cell wall at different length scales. (Rongpipi, 2019)
Our Services
- Diffraction and scattering
We offer a variety of diffraction/scattering based techniques such as X-ray microbeam diffraction, grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) and new characterization methods based on neutron scattering to provide our customers with rich local information about the cell wall, including spatial heterogeneity of the material and structural changes at local locations.
- Microscopy
We offer a range of microscopy techniques for the direct visualization of plant cell walls such as scanning probe microscopy (SPM), near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). In addition, we offer our customers quantitative image analysis, including determination of area, particle size, length, porosity and other useful parameters.
- Spectroscopy
We offer our customers spectroscopic techniques alone or in combination with microscopic techniques such as atomic force microscopy-based infrared (AFM-IR) spectroscopy to reveal critical information about the spatial distribution of various cell wall components.
Our Advantages
- Characterization with high spatial resolution and chemical sensitivity
- Powerful data analysis software
- Flexibility solutions and reliable scientific services
Equipped with a specialized biophysical analysis platform, CD BioSciences offers customers a combination of various techniques to characterize plant cell wall structures. If you are interested in our services, please contact us and we look forward to being your reliable partner.
Reference
- Rongpipi, S.; et al. Progress and opportunities in the characterization of cellulose–an important regulator of cell wall growth and mechanics. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2019: 1894.
For research use only, not
intended for any clinical use.
Related Services
