Abstract
The viscoelastic mechanical properties of water-rich plant tissues are fundamental for many aspects of organ physiology and plant functioning. These properties are determined partly by the water in cellular vacuole and partly by the mechanical properties of the cell wall, the latter varying according to the composition and organization of its polysaccharides. In this study, relationships between the viscoelastic properties of apple cortex parenchyma tissue and cell wall pectin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose structures were studied by infusing the tissue with selected sets of purified enzymes in a controlled osmoticum. The results showed that tissue elasticity and viscosity were related, and controlled to variable extents by all the targeted polysaccharides. Among them, pectic homogalacturonan domains, crystalline cellulose, and fucosylated xyloglucan were revealed as being of prime importance in determining the viscoelastic mechanical properties of apple cortex tissue.
Highlights
Many aspects of plant functioning are linked to the mechanical properties of plant tissues
Cell walls and compartmentalization of water contribute to creating turgor pressure, leading to the formation of a hydrostatic skeleton that is fundamentally responsible for the viscoelastic mechanical properties of water-rich tissues, such as those found in fleshy fruit (Passioura, 1994)
Plant mutants (Ulvskov et al, 2005; Burgert and Dunlop, 2011; Ruiz-May and Rose, 2013) and cell wall analogues composed of various cell wall polysaccharides incorporated in bacterial cellulose (Chanliaud et al, 2004; Whitney et al, 2006; Cybulska et al, 2010; Gu and Catchmark, 2013; Lin et al, 2016) are helpful in deciphering the contributions of cell wall polysaccharides to tissue mechanical properties
Summary
Many aspects of plant functioning are linked to the mechanical properties of plant tissues. Plant mutants (Ulvskov et al, 2005; Burgert and Dunlop, 2011; Ruiz-May and Rose, 2013) and cell wall analogues composed of various cell wall polysaccharides incorporated in bacterial cellulose (Chanliaud et al, 2004; Whitney et al, 2006; Cybulska et al, 2010; Gu and Catchmark, 2013; Lin et al, 2016) are helpful in deciphering the contributions of cell wall polysaccharides to tissue mechanical properties They have pointed to key roles of xyloglucan and pectin, and of pectin-degrading enzymes (endopolygalacturonase, pectin lyase), xyloglucan-remodeling enzymes (xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase, XTH), and expansin proteins that regulate xyloglucan–cellulose interactions (Brummell et al, 1999; Jiménez-Bermúdez et al, 2002; Chanliaud et al, 2004; Cantu et al, 2008; Quesada et al, 2009; Burgert and Dunlop, 2011; Atkinson et al, 2012; Miedes et al, 2013; Lin et al, 2016; Minoia et al, 2016). To determine the role of the affected polysaccharides on the tissue’s mechanical properties a model was developed that allowed compensating disparities between enzyme affinities and the variability of the fruit parenchyma tissue
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