Research Progress in the Groove Structures of Plant Cell Walls and Biomass Utilizations

Abstract

Plant cell walls represent an enormous biomass resource for biofuels and other chemical products. Principally, plant cell walls play a central role in plant morphorgenesis, and greatly affect plant mechanic strength, biomass digestibility, fiber quality and plant resistance. In this article, we briefly introduce the recent research advance in plant cell wall structures and functions by elucidating the key factors of plant cell walls that predominately determine biomass enzymatic saccharification upon various physical and chemical pretreatments in five typical plant species (rice, wheat, <italic>Miscanthus</italic>, sweet sorghum and maize). Notably, a groove structure of plant cell walls was observed in all of the five plant species using atomic force microscopy, and three types of nine distinct genes were identified that may be involved in the formation and modification of the groove structure. Therefore, a novel cell wall model was proposed concerning mechanism of biomass digestion and conversion, which provides insights into new biotechnologies for improving cotton fiber quality and enhancing crop resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.