Open AccessCell wall composition determines handedness reversal in helicoidal cellulose architectures of Pollia condensata fruits
Author(s) -
Yin Chang,
Rox Middleton,
Yu Ogawa,
Tom Gregory,
Lisa Maria Steiner,
Alexander Kovalev,
Rebecca H N Karanja,
Paula J. Rudall,
Beverley J. Glover,
Stanislav N. Gorb,
Silvia Vignolini
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2111723118
Subject(s) - asymmetry , cellulose , cell wall , biophysics , chirality (physics) , modulus , composition (language) , crystallography , chemistry , materials science , physics , biology , composite material , biochemistry , chiral symmetry , linguistics , philosophy , quantum mechanics , nambu–jona lasinio model , quark
Significance Helicoidal architectures are widespread in nature; several species adopt this structure to produce brilliant colorations. Such chiral architectures are usually left-handed in plants, with the only exception found in the cell walls of epicarp cells ofPollia condensata , where both handednesses are observed. Here, we aim to understand the origin of handednesses by analyzing optical and mechanical responses of single cells. Surprisingly, we discover that left-handed and right-handed cells show different distributions of spectra and elasticity. We verified by using finite element analysis simulation that the elasticity of helicoids is sensitive to the ratio of cellulose/cell wall matrix. Our findings reveal that cell wall composition affects the helicoidal architectures, suggesting that chemical composition plays a role in morphogenesis of the chirality reversal.