ORIENTATION OF CELL WALL POLYMERS IN THE Arabidopsis thaliana STEM

Abstract

Mechanical and physical propreties of plant fibres are dependent on the orientation of constituent polymers (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy was used to examine the orientation of the main plant polymers in transversal and longitudinal direction of the isolated cell wall of the Arabidopsis thaliana stem. The polarised FTIR measurements indicated that xylan and glucomannan have parallel orientation with regard to the orientation of cellulose, as well as lignin.