Cell wall

Chemical structure

 * Main Article: Cellulose

Cellulose in higher plants is organized into microfibrils, each measuring about 3 to 6 nm in diameter and containing up to 36 glucan chains having thousands of glucose residues. Like steel girders stabilizing a skyscraper’s structure, the primary cell-wall’s mechanical strength is due mainly to the microfibril scaffold. A microfibril’s crystalline and paracrystalline (amorphous) cellulose core is surrounded by hemicellulose, a branched polymer composed of pentose (5-carbon) and hexose (6-carbon) sugars. In addition to cross-linking individual microfibrils, hemicellulose in secondary cell walls (not shown) forms covalent associations with lignin, a rigid aromatic polymer whose structure and organization within the cell wall are poorly understood. The crystallinity of cellulose and its association with hemicellulose and lignin are two key challenges preventing efficient cellulose breakdown into glucose molecules.

Synthesis
Many enzymes involved in cell-wall synthesis or modification are thought to be located in complexes. Within the plasma membrane are rosettes composed of the enzyme cellulose synthase; these protein complexes move through the membrane during the synthesis of glucan chains (36 per rosette) that aggregate to form cellulose microfibrils. Cellulose synthase interact with the cytoskeleton in a poorly characterized way impacting cellulose fibril orientation and perhaps length. Understanding the function of these complexes and their interactions with sugar-producing metabolic pathways will be important for eventually controlling cell-wall composition. A number of cellulose synthase genes have been cloned for a variety of plants.