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Structure of a plant cell. Plant cells are the cells present in green plants, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae.Their distinctive features include primary cell walls containing cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectin, the presence of plastids with the capability to perform photosynthesis and store starch, a large vacuole that regulates turgor pressure, the absence of flagella or ...
Diagram of the plant cell, with the cell wall in green. Cell walls serve similar purposes in those organisms that possess them. They may give cells rigidity and strength, offering protection against mechanical stress. The chemical composition and mechanical properties of the cell wall are linked with plant cell growth and morphogenesis. [11]
Plant cells, similar to animal cells, respond to externally applied forces, such as by reorganization of their cytoskeletal network. The presence of a considerably rigid extracellular matrix, the cell wall, however, bestows the plant cells with a set of particular properties. Mainly, the growth of plant cells is controlled by the mechanics and ...
The polysaccharide components of plant cell walls are highly hydrophilic and thus permeable to water, whereas lignin is more hydrophobic. The crosslinking of polysaccharides by lignin is an obstacle for water absorption to the cell wall. Thus, lignin makes it possible for the plant's vascular tissue to conduct water efficiently. [15]
Many properties of cellulose depend on its chain length or degree of polymerization, the number of glucose units that make up one polymer molecule. Cellulose from wood pulp has typical chain lengths between 300 and 1700 units; cotton and other plant fibers as well as bacterial cellulose have chain lengths ranging from 800 to 10,000 units. [6]
The cell wall consists of peptidoglycan in bacteria and acts as an additional barrier against exterior forces. It also prevents the cell from expanding and bursting from osmotic pressure due to a hypotonic environment. Some eukaryotic cells (plant cells and fungal cells) also have a cell wall.
Unlike animal cells, almost every plant cell is surrounded by a polysaccharide cell wall. Neighbouring plant cells are therefore separated by a pair of cell walls and the intervening middle lamella, forming an extracellular domain known as the apoplast. Although cell walls are permeable to small soluble proteins and other solutes, plasmodesmata ...
Hemicellulose dominates the middle lamella of the plant cell, unlike cellulose which is primarily found in the secondary layers. This allows for hemicellulose to provide middle-ground support for the cellulose on the outer layers of the plant cell.