Cell-wall

The cell wall is a more rigid structure and is responsible for the form of the bacterial body. It behaves as a selectively permeable membrane and apparendy plays a fundamental role in the life activities of the cell. 

The cell wall has a low affinity for dyes, which means that it is probably not stained in some of the usual staining procedures. It is lightly stained by certain basic dyes such as basic fuchsin and the methyl violets. Where deep staining of the wall is desired, the use of a mordant, such as tannic acid, is necessary. The mordant not only increases the affinity of the cell for dye, but it may increase the thickness of the wall. 

The cell wall accounts for an average of about 20 per cent of the dry weight of bacteria and represents the major structural component. In thickness, it ranges from 10 to 23 nyi, depending upon the species. 

Gram-negative cell walls are generally richer in lipides than Grampositive bacteria. 

Cell walls of a number of Gram-positive and negative bacteria contain the amino acid diaminopimelic acid. 

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Agar occurs as a cell-wall constituent of the red marine algae Rho ophyceae, from which it is extracted by hot water, and marketed as a dry powder, flakes, or strips. It dissolves in hot water and sets on cooling to a jelly at a concentration as low as 0-5%. Its chief uses are as a solid medium for cultivating micro-organisms, as a thickener, emulsion stabilizer in the food industry and as a laxative. 

Surfaces can be active in inducing blood clotting, and there is much current searching for thromboresistant synthetic materials for use in surgical repair of blood vessels (see Ref. 111). It may be important that a protective protein film be strongly adsorbed [112]. The role of water structure in cell-wall interactions may be quite important as well [113]. 

Figure Bl.24.17. An example of scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) measurements of a human oral cancer cell. The different images indicate different windows in the energy of transmitted helium ions as indicated in the figure. White indicate areas of high counts. The teclmique offers a thickness scan through the sample, and, in this case, the cell walls of one specific cell can be seen in the areas dominated by thicker structures (data from C A Pineda, National Accelerator Centre, Fame, South Africa).

Silicon is important to plant and animal life. Diatoms in both fresh and salt water extract Silica from the water to build their cell walls. Silica is present in the ashes of plants and in the human skeleton. Silicon is an important ingredient in steel silicon carbide is one of the most important abrasives and has been used in lasers to produce coherent light of 4560 A. 

Although all the chiral ammo acids obtained from proteins have the l configura tion at their a carbon that should not be taken to mean that d ammo acids are unknown In fact quite a number of d ammo acids occur naturally d Alanine for example is a constituent of bacterial cell walls and d senne occurs m brain tissue The point is that D ammo acids are not constituents of proteins... 

The viruses responsible for AIDS are human immunodeficiency virus 1 and 2 (HIV 1 and HIV 2) Both are retroviruses, meaning that their genetic material is RNA rather than DNA HI Vs require a host cell to reproduce and the hosts m humans are the T4 lymphocytes which are the cells primarily responsible for inducing the immune system to respond when provoked The HIV penetrates the cell wall of a T4 lymphocyte and deposits both its RNA and an enzyme called reverse transcriptase inside There the reverse transcriptase catalyzes the formation of a DNA strand that is complementary to the viral RNA The transcribed DNA then serves as the template from which the host lymphocyte produces copies of the virus which then leave the host to infect other T4 cells In the course of HIV reproduction the ability of the T4 lymphocyte to reproduce Itself IS compromised As the number of T4 cells decrease so does the body s ability to combat infections... 

Fibers for commercial and domestic use are broadly classified as natural or synthetic. The natural fibers are vegetable, animal, or mineral ia origin. Vegetable fibers, as the name implies, are derived from plants. The principal chemical component ia plants is cellulose, and therefore they are also referred to as ceUulosic fibers. The fibers are usually bound by a natural phenoHc polymer, lignin, which also is frequentiy present ia the cell wall of the fiber thus vegetable fibers are also often referred to as lignocellulosic fibers, except for cotton which does not contain lignin. 

The microfibrils iu vegetable fibers are spiral and parallel to one another iu the cell wall. The spiral angles iu flax, hemp, ramie, and other bast fibers are lower than cotton, which accounts for the low extensibiUty of bast fibers. 

A cross-sectional view of kenaf is shown in Figure 3d. The ultimate cells are nearly cylindrical with thick cell walls. Kenaf fibers are shorter and coarser than those of jute. Both chemical (kraft) and mechanical pulps have been produced from kenaf, and successful demonstration mns of newsprint have been made for the Dallas Morning Nem, the St. Petersburg Times, and the Bakersfield Californian with a furnish of 82% kenaf chemithermomechanical pulp and 18% softwood kraft pulp. Kenaf fiber is also considered a substitute for jute and used in sacking, rope, twine, bags, and as papermaking pulp in India, Thailand, and the former Yugoslavia. RoseUe bleached pulp is marketed in Thailand. 

The nature of the opening between cells determines how readily different gases and Hquids can pass from one cell to another. Because of variation in flow of different Hquids or gases through the cell-wall openings, a single measurement of fraction open cells does not fully characterize this stmctural variable, especially in a dynamic situation. 

Ice formation is both beneficial and detrimental. Benefits, which include the strengthening of food stmctures and the removal of free moisture, are often outweighed by deleterious effects that ice crystal formation may have on plant cell walls in fmits and vegetable products preserved by freezing. Ice crystal formation can result in partial dehydration of the tissue surrounding the ice crystal and the freeze concentration of potential reactants. Ice crystals mechanically dismpt cell stmctures and increase the concentration of cell electrolytes which can result in the chemical denaturation of proteins. Other quaHty losses can also occur (12). 

In general, many species of algae have cell walls resistant to digestive enzymes, dark colors, and bitter flavor. AH of these characteristics must be altered to make an acceptable food or feed product. 

Algin occurs in all members of the class Phaeophjceae, brown seaweed, as a stmctural component of the cell walls in the form of the insoluble mixed calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium salt of alginic acid. 

Pectin. Pectin [9000-69-5] is a generic term for a group of polysaccharides, mainly partially methoxylated polygalacturonic acids, which are located in the cell walls of all plant tissues. The main commercial sources of pectin are citms peel and apple pomace, where it represents 20—40% and 10—20% of the dry weight respectively. The pectin is extracted, the extract purified, and the pectin precipitated (50) increased extraction times lead to the production of low methoxyl pectins. 

Hemicellulose [9034-32-6] is the least utilized component of the biomass triad comprising cellulose (qv), lignin (qv), and hemiceUulose. The term was origiaated by Schulze (1) and is used here to distinguish the nonceUulosic polysaccharides of plant cell walls from those that are not part of the wall stmcture. Confusion arises because other hemicellulose definitions based on solvent extraction are often used in the Hterature (2—4). The term polyose is used in Europe to describe these nonceUulosic polysaccharides from wood, whereas hemicellulose is used to describe the alkaline extracts from commercial pulps (4). The quantity of hemicellulose in different sources varies considerably as shown in Table 1. 

The common hemiceUulose components of arborescent plants are listed in Table 3. Xylans, arabinogalactans, and pectic substances are common to all while only traces (if at all) of glucomaimans are found in the cell walls of bamboo. Other polysaccharides are found in trace amounts in wood as well as in bark, growing tissues, and other specialized parts of trees. 

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