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Cellulose Content in Fibers of Cottons which Differ in their Lint Lengths and Extent of Fuzz
Author(s) -
BEASLEY C. A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1979.tb01667.x
Subject(s) - cellulose , lint , cell wall , cellulose fiber , fiber , composite material , lignin , secondary cell wall , materials science , elongation , chemistry , agronomy , biology , biochemistry , ultimate tensile strength , organic chemistry
Three cottons differing in their extent of fuzz fibers (linters) and final length of lint fibers were analyzed for amount of fiber cell walls and fiber cellulose at various times postanthesis. Cellulose determinations were performed directly on whole fibers and on fiber cell wall preparations. The data suggest that the presence of fuzz fibers does not account for a rise, followed by a plateau, followed by a rise, in cellulose content expressed as a percentage of cell wall material. It is concluded that: (1) under our greenhouse conditions, all fuzz fibers are initiated by day eight after anthesis; (2) weight per mm length of all fibers increases up to the point of secondary wall deposition and increases even more rapidly after that; (3) deposition of secondary wall cellulose in fuzz fibers probably does not begin until after similar deposition begins in lint fibers; (4) the actual amount of cellulose in primary walls of all elongating fibers (fuzz and lint) is a constant value, about 1 × 10 −16 mg/mm; and (5) secondary wall cellulose deposition in lint fibers begins very sharply, in advance of cessation of elongation, at a time closely related to final lint fiber length. It is speculated that: (1) cell wall preparation procedures may remove significant amounts of noncellulosic wall material, thus making it difficult to define all functional constituents on the basis of what is left in a cell wall residue; and/or (2) primary walls may lose to the cytoplasm some of their constituents in advance of secondary wall deposition, the extent of loss varying due to developmental age of the elongating fibers.