In silico studies of plant primary cell walls – structure and mechanics

• Published in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 98; no. 3; pp. 887 - 899
• Main Authors: Pieczywek, Piotr Mariusz, Chibrikov, Vadym, Zdunek, Artur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2023
• Subjects: Biomechanics; Cell culture; Cell Wall - chemistry; Cell Wall - metabolism; cell wall model; Cell walls; Cellulose; Cellulose - analysis; Cellulose - chemistry; Cellulose - metabolism; Developmental stages; Fine structure; Hemicellulose; Mathematical models; mechanics; modelling; Models, Theoretical; Numerical models; Plants - metabolism; Polysaccharides; Polysaccharides - analysis; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polysaccharides - metabolism; Research methodology; Research methods; Saccharides; Ultrastructure; hemicellulose; mechanics; cell wall model; cellulose; modelling
• ISSN: 1464-7931; 1469-185X
• DOI: 10.1111/brv.12935

ABSTRACT
Primary plant cell wall (PCW) is a highly organized network, its performance is dependent on cellulose, hemicellulose and pectic polysaccharides, their properties, interactions and assemblies. Their mutual relationships and functions in the cell wall can be better understood by means of conceptual models of their higher‐order structures. Knowledge unified in the form of a conceptual model allows predictions to be made about the properties and behaviour of the system under study. Ongoing research in this field has resulted in a number of conceptual models of the cell wall. However, due to the currently limited research methods, the community of cell wall researchers have not reached a consensus favouring one model over another. Herein we present yet another research technique – numerical modelling – which is capable of resolving this issue. Even at the current stage of development of numerical techniques, due to their complexity, the in silico reconstruction of PCW remains a challenge for computational simulations. However, some difficulties have been overcome, thereby making it possible to produce advanced approximations of PCW structure and mechanics. This review summarizes the results concerning the simulation of polysaccharide interactions in PCW with regard to network fine structure, supramolecular properties and polysaccharide binding affinity. The in silico mechanical models presented herein incorporate certain physical and biomechanical aspects of cell wall architecture for the purposes of undertaking critical testing to bring about advances in our understanding of the mechanisms controlling cells and limiting cell wall expansion.