AsianScientist (May 28, 2015) – Scientists have moved a step closer to identifying the nanostructure of cellulose–the basic structural component of plant cell walls that provide fiber in our diet. Their findings, published in Plant Physiology, could pave the way for more disease resistant varieties of crops and increase the sustainability of the pulp, paper and fiber industry–one of the main uses of cellulose.
Cellulose represents one of the most abundant organic compounds on earth with an estimated 180 billion tonnes produced by plants each year. A plant makes cellulose by linking simple units of glucose together to form chains, which are then bundled together to form fibers. These fibers then wrap around the cell as the major component of the plant cell wall, providing rigidity, flexibility and defense against internal and external stresses.
Until now, scientists have been challenged with detailing the structure of plant cell walls due to the complexity of the work and the invasive nature of traditional physical methods which often cause damage to the plant cells.
Dr. Monika Doblin, research fellow and deputy node leader at the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne, said cellulose is a vital part of the plant’s structure, but its synthesis is yet to be fully understood.
“It’s difficult to work on cellulose synthesis in vitro because once plant cells are broken open, most of the enzyme activity is lost, so we needed to find other approaches to study how it is made,” Doblin said.
“Thanks to IBM’s expertise in molecular modeling and Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI)’s computational power, we have been able to create models of the plant wall at the molecular level which will lead to new levels of understanding about the formation of cellulose.”
The research is part of a longer-term program at VLSCI to develop a 3D computer-simulated model of the entire plant wall.
Using the IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer at VLSCI, known as Avoca, the team was able to perform the quadrillions of calculations required to model the motions of cellulose atoms. Their research shows that within the cellulose structure, there are between 18 and 24 chains present within an elementary microfibril, much less than the 36 chains that had previously been assumed.
IBM researcher, Dr. Daniel Oehme, said plant walls are the first barrier to disease pathogens.
“While we don’t fully understand the molecular pathway of pathogen infection and plant response, we are exploring ways to manipulate the composition of the wall in order to make it more resistant to disease.”
The article can be found at: Oehme et al. (2015) Novel Aspects Of The Structure And Dynamics Of Iβ Elementary Cellulose Microfibrils Revealed By Computational Simulations.
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Source: The University of Melbourne.
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