News tagged with plant cell walls

Blossom end rot plummets in transgenic tomato

The brown tissue that signals blossom end rot in tomatoes is a major problem for large producers and home gardeners, but a Purdue University researcher has unknowingly had the answer to significantly lowering ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 3

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?

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Chemists study mutated plants that may be better for biofuels

Genetic mutations to cellulose in plants could improve the conversion of cellulosic biomass into biofuels, according to a research team that included two Iowa State University chemists.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Feb 28, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Plant toughness: Key to cracking biofuels?

Along with photosynthesis, the plant cell wall is one of the features that most set plants apart from animals. A structural molecule called cellulose is necessary for the manufacture of these walls. Cellulose is synthesized ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 21, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists create new enzymes for biofuel production

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and world-leading gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have taken an important step toward the development of a cost-efficient process to extract sugars ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 23, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 3

Which plants will survive droughts, climate change?

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research by UCLA life scientists could lead to predictions of which plant species will escape extinction from climate change.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 06, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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.

Chemistry / Other

created Aug 31, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 18, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

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.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 25, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Rising CO2 is causing plants to release less water to the atmosphere, researchers say

As carbon dioxide levels have risen during the last 150 years, the density of pores that allow plants to breathe has dwindled by 34 percent, restricting the amount of water vapor the plants release to the ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Mar 03, 2011 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (14) | comments 57 | with audio podcast

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.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 31, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Same fungus, different strains

Fungi play key roles in nature and are valued for their great importance in industry. Consider citric acid, a key additive in several foods and pharmaceuticals produced on a large-scale basis for decades with ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 13, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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.

Related topics: biofuel , ethanol