Correlations between lignin content and structural robustness in plants revealed by X-ray ptychography

Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer responsible for cell wall stiffness and protection from pathogen attack. However, lignin represents a bottleneck to biomass degradation due to its recalcitrance related to the natural cell wall resistance to release sugars for fermentation or further proces...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-04, Vol.10 (1), p.6023-6023, Article 6023
Main Authors: Polo, Carla C., Pereira, Luciano, Mazzafera, Paulo, Flores-Borges, Denisele N. A., Mayer, Juliana L. S., Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel, Holler, Mirko, Barsi-Andreeta, Mariane, Westfahl, Harry, Meneau, Florian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/449/448/1365
639/4077/909/4053/906/4060
Arabidopsis - chemistry
Arabidopsis - genetics
Arabidopsis - ultrastructure
Biodegradation
Cell walls
Computed tomography
Fermentation
Genetics
Heterogeneity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Implosions
Lignin
Lignin - analysis
Lignin - genetics
Molecular biology
multidisciplinary
Mutants
Mutation
Parenchyma
Polymers
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Water flow
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Summary:Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer responsible for cell wall stiffness and protection from pathogen attack. However, lignin represents a bottleneck to biomass degradation due to its recalcitrance related to the natural cell wall resistance to release sugars for fermentation or further processing. A biological approach involving genetics and molecular biology was used to disrupt lignin pathway synthesis and decrease lignin deposition. Here, we imaged three-dimensional fragments of the petioles of wild type and C4H lignin mutant Arabidopsis thaliana plants by synchrotron cryo-ptychography. The three-dimensional images revealed the heterogeneity of vessels, parenchyma, and fibre cell wall morphologies, highlighting the relation between disturbed lignin deposition and vessel implosion (cell collapsing and obstruction of water flow). We introduce a new parameter to accurately define cell implosion conditions in plants, and we demonstrate how cryo-ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (cryo-PXCT) provides new insights for plant imaging in three dimensions to understand physiological processes.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-63093-6