CELL WALL
STAINING/ STAIN APPLICATION
Malachite green Spore staining
India ink Capsule staining
Acid-fast method Mycobacterium staining
Carbol fuchsin &
Methylene blue
Lactophenol Cotton Blue Fungi
Bacterial Cell wall
Archaeal Cell wall
PLANT CELL WALL
CELL WALL
• Typical component of plant cell that fixes the
size and shape of the mature plant cell
• The kind of cell wall present determines the
texture of a tissue
Functions
Mechanical functions
– Like a skeleton around each cell
– Determine shape and size of cell
– Determines the limits of expansion and water
uptake
Metabolic Activity
– Living part of cell
– Receives signals such as hormones
– biochemical response
Absorption or secretion–root hairs, rhizoids
Cell Wall
• The cell walls vary much in thickness in relation to
age and type of cells. Young cells have thinner
cell walls than the fully developed ones.
• The cell wall is complex in its structure and
usually consists of three layers:
Primary cell wall (usually consists of one layer)
Intercellular substance (middle lamella) cements
together primary wall of two adjacent cells.
Secondary cell wall (made up of one- many layers
, frequently three)
Structural Polysaccharides
Three Major Polysaccharides
1) Cellulose = Beta 1-4 linkage, long unbranched
linear chain of glucose, with crystalline
properties
found in a form Microfibrils are bundles of about
30 thread-like cellulose molecules (10-25 nm in
diameter) orderly arranged in parallel arrays
forming an extended three-dimensional lattice
characteristic of crystals
Macrofibrils in secondary walls
Hemicellulose
• Highly branched long chains of glucose
(xyloglucans, xylans)
• Microfibrils are coated with the fibrous
hemicellulose = xyloglucan
• Hydrogen bonds with cellulose
• Xyloglucan is, in turn, chemically bonded to
another hemicellulose that serves as a cross-
link between pectin molecules
Pectins
Pectins are the most soluble of the wall
polysaccharides
Pectins are gel-forming components containing
Galacturonic acid, Rhamnose
Galactose, Arabinose
Pectin is a linear chain of (1-4)-linked D-galacturonic
acid that forms the pectin-backbone, a
homogalacturonan.
Enzymes
• 10% dry weight
• Peroxidases, cellulases, pectinases,
phosphotases
• Function :-wall expansion
- Involved in growth and development
Lipids
Cutin
Found in cuticle and walls of epidermal cells
Suberin
- Important for waterproofing cork cells
Waxes
Cell wall layers
• Each protoplasm form its wall from outside
inward
• So the oldest layer of a wall is the outermost
position, the most recent one is the innermost
position next to protoplasm
Middle lamella
• Cements together primary wall of two
adjacent cells.
• Mainly pectic in nature but often becomes
lignified in older cells (lignin :complex
chemical compound, polymer, gives rigidity )
Primary cell wall
• Thinner than secondary cell wall-
Cellulosic microfibrils randomly arranged.
• Found in parenchyma cells in mesophyll of leaf, storage
parenchyma of roots and tubers.
• Primary cell wall may become thick as in collenchyma
cells in stems, leaves and endosperms of some seeds
• Thickening because of increase in amount of cellulose
and noncellulosic components and water
Secondary cell wall
• Frequently made of three layers
– S1
– S2: the thickest and
– S3: may be very thin or lacking, some times called tertiary wall
• Because the different orientations of cellulose microfibrils in
the three layers
• Impregnated with lignin, which replaces pectin
• Lignin is Polyphenol that strengthens the wall, makes it
waterproof and resistant to decay and animals attack by
herbivores,
• Primary walls rarely have lignin
Intercellular spaces
• Characteristic of mature tissues, may be found in
meristematic tissues (intensive respiration)
• May function as containers for secreted materials
• Are of two types:
1- Schizogenous: the most common type develops by
separating (using enzymes to remove pectin) the
primary wall through the middle lamella, starts in the
corner and spreads to other parts.
2- Lysigenous: results from breakdown of entire cells.
Occurs in some roots
