Allen Distinguished Microscopy Seminar

Building Biomass: Imaging the Synthesis and Growth Dynamics of Plant Cell Walls

Charles T. Anderson, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Penn State University, PA

Sponsored By:
ORIED, CALS, COS, CVM, COE, Eastman Chemical University Engagement Fund & Department of Plant and Microbial Biology.

Abstract: The cell walls of plants are complex, carbohydrate-based extracellular matrices that determine patterns of plant growth and development. Plant cell walls also embody much of the energy captured during photosynthesis, making them renewable sources of food, bioenergy, and biomaterials. Our group develops and applies advanced imaging methods to investigate how plants initially construct their cell walls and how these walls change during cellular growth. Using quantitative photobleaching and TIRF microscopy, we are working to count protein subunits in the Cellulose Synthesis Complex, which produces cellulose, an abundant but enigmatic polysaccharide component of the plant cell wall. We are also using high-speed confocal microscopy in living plant cells to track the synthesis and reorganization of cellulose. Finally, we are using super-resolution microscopy to resolve the nanoscale organization of wall-synthesizing machinery, as well as wall components themselves, in intact cells, which will help reveal how plant cell walls confer flexibility and strength to plants.