Cell Wall in Plants

• Cell wall just outside the plasma membrane.

• This feature distinguishes them from animal cells
• Cell wall affords support and protection to the cell
• Gives shape and rigidity to the plant body
Gross Structure of primary
and secondary cell walls
STRUCTURE OF PRIMARY CELL WALL
Plasmodesmata

Plasma membrane-lined pores called plasmodesmata (PD) penetrate cell walls (CW) of neighboring cells.
Compressed endoplasmic reticulum (ER), called desmotubule (DT), runs through the pore. Molecules such as non-
cell-autonomous proteins (NCAPs) and small RNAs (smRNAs) can move from cell to cell via the cytoplasmic sleeve
(CS) or along the ER membrane. Small molecules can also move via the DT lumen.
 Pit
Simple
s
Bordered
Pits Pits
Pit pairs
 Ultra structure of cell wall
• The cell wall is a biphasic structure consisting of cellulose microfibril
embedded in gel-like non-cellulosic matrix.
• microfibrillar phase consists of cellulose only,it is crystalline, i.e. its
molecules are arranged in a definite way and is homogeneous in chemical
composition.
• Microfibrils are long, thin structure with oval or circular cross section and
have uniform width of about 10nm
• There are around 8000 to 15,000 glucose monomers per cellulose molecule
and are 0.25 to 0.5 µm long. The molecules are flat and ribbon like, and lie
parallel to each other
• Hydrogen bonding occurs between the molecules, thus crystallizing and
producing aggregates called microfibrils
• Frey Wyssling (1959) graphically described secondary wall
of the fibre of Boehmeria
Micellar system
• One cellulose molecule is 8 A° wide
• Cellulose molecules are combined into an elementary fibril
which has a widest diameter of 100 A° and contains 100
cellulose molecules in a transverse section
• The cellulose molecules and the elementary fibrils are
ribbon like structures.
• Elementary fibrils form a bundle known as microfibril
which is 250 A° wide and contains 2,000 cellulose
molecules in a transverse section.
• Microfibrils are combined into macrofibrils 0.4 micron wide
and containing 500,000 cellulose molecules in transverse
section.
• Finally, 2,000,000,000 cellulose molecules make up a
transverse section of the secondary wall of the fibre.
Intermicellar system –
microcapillaries that contain
various non cellulosic wall
materials and contain liquids,
waxes, lignin, cutin,
hemicelluloses……silica.
Wall proteins play an important role in cell extension - extensin
Cell wall thickening in tracheary elements
Extra cell wall materials
• Cutin – water repellent. Chemically related to fatty acids. Forms cuticle
• Wax – water-insoluble fatty substances. Esters of long chain fatty acids
and long chain monohydric alcohols. Wax gets deposited over cuticle in
leaves, fruits and seeds.
• Suberin – similar to cutin. Forms an encrustation over primary cellulosic
walls or cork cells. Present in casparian strips.
• Lignin – complex polymer with variable composition. 17 – 30 % of wood.
• Callose – unbranched, water insoluble glucan, formed by β 1,3 glycosidic
linkage. On the walls of fungal cells
Growth of cell wall
Growth in thickness
Two theories
• Intussusception theory
• Theory of apposition
• Growth in length
• Multinet theory – orientation of microfibrils in
successive layers taken into account.
• Initial deposition transverse
• This layer pushed outwards due to apposition
Knot