Effect of mechanical damage and wound healing on the viscoelastic properties of stems of flax cultivars (Linum usitatissimum L. cv. Eden and cv. Drakkar).

Cloé Paul-Victor,Sara Dalle Vacche,Thomas Speck,Véronique Michaud,Olga Speck,Siegfried Fink,Federica Sordo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185958

Cloé Paul-Victor, Sara Dalle Vacche + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185958

Copy DOI

Abstract

As plant fibres are increasingly used in technical textiles and their composites, underlying principles of wound healing in living plant fibres are relevant to product quality, and provide inspiration for biomimetic healing in synthetic materials. In this work, two Linum usitatissimum cultivars differing in their stem mechanical properties, cv. Eden (stems resistant to lodging) and cv. Drakkar (with more flexible stems), were grown without wound or with stems previously wounded with a cut parallel or transversal to the stem. To investigate wound healing efficiency, growth traits, stem biomechanics with Dynamic Mechanical Analysis and anatomy were analysed after 25-day recovery.Longitudinal incisions formed open wounds while transversal incisions generated stem growth restoring the whole cross-section but not the original stem organisation. In the case of transversal wound healing, all the bast fibre bundles in the perturbed area became lignified and pulled apart by parenchyma cells growth. Both Linum cultivars showed a healing efficiency from 79% to 95% with higher scores for transversal healing. Morphological and anatomical modifications of Linum were related to mechanical properties and healing ability. Alongside with an increased understanding of wound healing in plants, our results highlight their possible impact on textile quality and fibre yield.

Highlights

From a material scientist’s point of view, stems of non-woody plants can be considered as fibre-reinforced composites, which are made up of unlignified collenchyma fibres or lignified sclerechyma fibres embedded in a matrix of lignified or unlignified parenchymatous tissues
We investigated the wound healing mechanisms of Linum usitatissimum and especially of its bast fibres and analysed the plants during their growth, contrary to most studies about Linum usitatissimum fibres conducted on processed fibres
The two mechanical injuries resulted in two distinct wound healing responses for both Linum usitatissimum cv

Summary

Introduction

From a material scientist’s point of view, stems of non-woody plants can be considered as fibre-reinforced composites, which are made up of unlignified collenchyma fibres or lignified sclerechyma fibres embedded in a matrix of lignified or unlignified parenchymatous tissues. Having in mind that the capability to repair external and internal damage at different length. Wound healing of flax cultivars (Germany) for assistance in plant growing. We thank Sabine Diener, Susanne Roske and Nardo Streit (Institute for Forest Botany, University of Freiburg, Germany) for technical assistance in the anatomical sample preparation. The article processing charge was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the University of Freiburg in the funding programme Open Access Publishing

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion