Journal article

Effects of structural variation in xyloglucan polymers on interactions with bacterial cellulose

Sarah EC Whitney, Elaine Wilson, Judith Webster, Antony Bacic, JS Grant Reid, Michael J Gidley

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY | WILEY | Published : 2006

Abstract

A cellulose/xyloglucan framework is considered to form the basis for the mechanical properties of primary plant cell walls and hence to have a major influence on the biomechanical properties of growing, fleshy plant tissues. In this study, structural variants of xyloglucan have been investigated as components of composites with bacterial cellulose as a simplified model for the cellulose/xyloglucan framework of primary plant cell walls. Evidence for molecular binding to cellulose with perturbation of cellulose crystallinity was found for all xyloglucan types. High molecular mass samples gave homogeneous centimeter-scale composites with extensive cross-linking of cellulose with xyloglucan. Low..

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University of Melbourne Researchers