The Plant Cell Wall Methods and Protocols

Plants are essential to life on earth, and, while some readers of this book may not be entirely familiar with the cell wall per se, they will have come across it in many forms. Cellulose, a major plant cell wall polysaccharide, is also the most abundantly occurring natural biopolymer, with many other plant cell wall components being among the next most abundant. Some ways in which people may be familiar with the cell wall and/or cell wall components are as; textiles (many, such as cotton, are cellulose); paper; timber; pectin, which is the gelling agent used in jams and other foods; dietary fiber; and cell wall characteristics and metabolism control, for example, fruit ripening and texture. We are therefore dependent on plant cell walls for health, food, and clothing, and a major current area of research is their use as biofuels.