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Plant Cell Walls: Cellulose

Before this, knowCellular Membranes

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By Michael Li

Plant Cell Walls: Cellulose

Cellulose is a polysaccharide that surrounds plant cells, forming the cell wall. The above video mentioned several important functions of the cell wall such as protection, structural support, as well as acting as a selective gatekeeper for what is allowed in and out of the plant cell.

Plant cell diagram: a green rectangular cell wall around the cytoplasm, with two large blue vacuoles, a central nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria, ribosomes, rough ER and a lysosome labeled.

The cell wall consists of three components: middle lamella, primary, and secondary cell walls. The secondary cell wall is primarily composed of cellulose.

Layered diagram of the plant cell wall: middle lamella with pectin at the top, the primary cell wall of cellulose microfibrils and hemicellulose in the middle, and the plasma membrane with soluble proteins below.

References:

University of Georgia

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