All of the food we eat contains chemical energy initially derived from sunlight. We know that it is photosynthesis that transfers energy from light into chemical energy, and we are used to talking about ‘calories’ in our food. You may have estimated the amount of chemical energy in a foodstuff or a plant using a calorimeter (see Figure 1). This instrument measures the heat released when a sample is burnt. The greater the amount of heat energy released, the higher the calorific (chemical energy) content of the material. Combustion of fossil fuels to provide us with heat relies on the chemical energy stored in plants when they were alive (see Figure 2). With an ever-decreasing supply of fossil fuels, however, we are constantly on the lookout for alternative sources of energy.
The cell wall is a rigid and protective layer around the plasma membrane which provides mechanical support to the cell.
It is a non-living structure which is formed by the living protoplast.
Animal cells do not have a cell wall. They are present in most plant cells, fungi, bacteria, algae, and some archaea.
In-plant cells, the cell wall is made up of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and protein. In many fungi, the cell wall is formed of chitin and in bacteria, the cell wall contains protein-lipid-polysaccharide complexes.
The cell wall has many important functions in a cell including protection, structure, and support.
Pennsylvania Dutch country would appear to many folks an unlikely place in which to find a solution to this nation’s energy problems. The fertile fields roll toward the horizon … prosperous farms dot the landscape … and local folks use horses and buggies for transportation! Yet deep in the rich Amish and Mennonite farm country–near Ephrata, Pennsylvania–grow rows of trees that may someday set us free from our gasoline bondage … and can already provide low-cost heat for the homestead house.
Earlier this year, the United States officially re-entered the Paris Climate Agreement, an international accord that brings many nations together to address climate change. This reconciliation puts the U.S. on track to adopt cleaner energy policies in the pursuit of eventual carbon neutrality. This return also reinforces the importance of advancing environmental research to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, which is critical to curbing carbon dioxide emissions.
The US Department of Energy’s favorite tree is poplar. They’re the fastest growing trees in the Northern Hemisphere, making them tantalizing plants to harness for bioenergy. In this episode, hear from Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists who have uncovered remarkable genetic secrets that bring us closer to making poplar an economical and sustainable source of energy and materials.
Decarbonizing air transportation is critical to meeting U.S. climate goals and improving the nation’s energy economy. But technologies that are transforming automobiles – such as electric motors and hydrogen fuels – are difficult to implement in aircraft.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A plant cell wall’s unique ability to expand without weakening or breaking — a quality required for plant growth — is due to the movement of its cellulose skeleton, according to new research that models the cell wall. The new model, created by Penn State researchers, reveals that chains of cellulose bundle together within the cell wall, providing strength, and slide against each other when the cell is stretched, providing extensibility.
The plant cell wall has a diversity of functions. It provides a structural framework to support plant growth and acts as the first line of defense when the plant encounters pathogens. The cell wall must also retain some flexibility, such that when subjected to developmental, biotic, or abiotic stimuli it can be rapidly remodeled in response. Genes encoding enzymes capable of synthesizing or hydrolyzing components of the plant cell wall show differential expression when subjected to different stresses, suggesting they may facilitate stress tolerance through changes in cell wall composition. In this review we summarize recent genetic and transcriptomic data from the literature supporting a role for specific cell wall-related genes in stress responses, in both dicot and monocot systems. These studies highlight that the molecular signatures of cell wall modification are often complex and dynamic, with multiple genes appearing to respond to a given stimulus. Despite this, comparisons between publically available datasets indicate that in many instances cell wall-related genes respond similarly to different pathogens and abiotic stresses, even across the monocot-dicot boundary. We propose that the emerging picture of cell wall remodeling during stress is one that utilizes a common toolkit of cell wall-related genes, multiple modifications to cell wall structure, and a defined set of stress-responsive transcription factors that regulate them.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate (BESSD) leads convergence research in biology, ecology, engineering, data discovery, physical sciences, and computing to advance US competitiveness in the global bioeconomy and Earth system sustainability
The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) vision is to accelerate domestication of bioenergy-relevant plants and microbes to enable high-impact, value-added, co-product development at multiple points in the bioenergy supply chain.