CD BioSciences is committed to providing a variety of biophysical techniques to help our customers accurately decipher the detailed structure of cell wall components in their natural environment, without the need to deconstruct the cell wall. We are confident to provide you with professional and advanced technical support to accelerate your research progress.

Introduction

Rapid developments in the field of biophysics in the last decade have given rise to a number of biophysical techniques that can be used for in situ plant cell wall composition analysis. For example, fluorescence and vibrational excitation, as well as mass spectrometry, can be used to identify and quantify plant cell wall components at a resolution level of μm or lower. However, these methods typically require sample homogenization, harsh pretreatment or extraction, and a high level of operator expertise. Difficulties in sample preparation (quality and adaptability of sections, flatness of samples, measurement of component accessibility) have limited the general application of these techniques.

In addition to the methods described above, cell wall probes (CWPs) are gaining interest as promising tools in the field of plant glycobiology. This method can be used to detect various cell wall components, especially their relative abundance and structural changes, in a high-throughput manner while providing insight into their molecular structure and interactions with other glycans.

Fig.1 Transvers al section of Douglas-fir softwood. (Costa, 2016)

Our Services

We offer not only a variety of biophysical techniques to help our customers analyze plant cell wall components in situ, but also sample preparation procedures for plant materials.

• Fluorescence microscopy
  We offer fluorescence microscopy techniques to help clients study cell wall microstructure and in situ localization of polymers in complex plant tissues. We typically use different fluorescent markers to identify multiple compounds simultaneously.
• Electron microscopy
  We offer transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the identification of plant cell wall components. In addition, we combine SEM with elemental analysis to identify certain specific incrustations within the cell wall.
• Infrared and Raman microspectroscopy
  We offer IR and Raman microspectroscopy, two complementary non-invasive methods for the analysis of cell wall components. The methods are suitable for analysis at the single cell wall level. We focus on developing new laser sources and advances in bioinformatics to make it easier to apply this non-destructive method.
• Mass spectrometry microscopy
  We offer a variety of mass spectrometry techniques such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), TOF-SIMS, and MALDI-MS to study cell wall components.
• NMR spectroscopy
  We offer NMR spectroscopy, a non-invasive and non-destructive technique to collect information in natural cell walls.
• CWP
  We offer different types of CWPs to specifically bind molecules of cell wall components, followed by subsequent selective detection, quantification or visualization. This method enables the detection of various cell wall components in a high throughput manner.

CD BioSciences has the capability to provide a range of efficient and advanced assays to help our customers detect isolated cell wall components as well as their various molecular signatures in situ. If you are interested in our services, please contact us directly. We look forward to working with you and providing you with the best scientific services.

Reference

1. Costa, G.; Plazanet, I. Plant cell wall, a challenge for its characterisation. Advances in biological chemistry. 2016, 6(3):2162-2183.

• Extraction of Plant Cell Wall Components
• In Vitro Plant Cell Wall Components Analysis