Plant cell walls undergo multiple cycles of dehydration and rehydration during their life. Calcium crosslinked low methoxy pectin is a major constituent of plant cell walls. Understanding the dehydration-rehydration behavior of pectin gels may shed light on the water transport and mechanics of plant cells. In this work, we report the contributions of the microstructure to the mechanics of pectin-Ca gels subjected to different extents of dehydration and subsequent rehydration. This is investigated using a pectin gel composition that forms 'egg-box bundles', a characteristic feature of the microstructure of low methoxy pectin-Ca gels. Large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) rheology along with small angle neutron scattering and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy on pectin gels is used to elucidate the mechanical and microstructural changes during dehydration-rehydration cycles. As the extent of dehydration increases, the reswelling ability, strain-stiffening behavior and yield strain decrease. These effects are more prominent at faster rates of dehydration and are not completely reversible upon rehydration to the initial undried state. Microstructural changes due to the aggregation of egg-box bundles and single chains and the associated changes in the water configurations lead to these irreversible changes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2cp01479c | DOI Listing |
Funct Integr Genomics
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Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, 124001, India.
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ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208024, India.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Cell Environ
January 2025
College of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui, China.
A key feature of stress responses [closely relative to the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA)] and associated acclimation in plants is the dynamic adjustments and related optimisation of carbohydrate content between sink and source organs. The production of stomata, which consist of a pore between two adjacent guard cells, are central to plant adaptation to changing environment conditions. In this context, ABA is a core modulator of environmentally determined stomatal development.
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January 2025
Guangxi Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine Key Laboratory, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China.
Light provides the necessary energy for plant photosynthesis, which allows plants to produce organic matter and energy conversion, during plant growth and development. Light provides material energy to plants as the basis for cell division and differentiation, chlorophyll synthesis, tissue growth and stomatal movement, and light intensity, photoperiod, and light quality play important roles in these processes. There are several regulatory mechanisms involved in sugar metabolism in plants, and light, as one of the regulatory factors, affects cell wall composition, starch granules, sucrose synthesis, and vascular bundle formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Plant Sci
January 2025
College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, China.
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