Abstract
The basis of multinet gwoth, the multinet growth hypothesis, is examined in view of recent criticisms. It is shown that the strain across a growing wall may be calculated by simple means and the expected reorientations are deduced (a) for a wall in which the microfibrils of the innermost wall lamella always lie helically with the same pitch and (b) in which the microfibrils lie at random. Calculations are presented both for cells increasing in length only and for cells also increasing in breadth. Both the strains and the reorientations are smaller than commonly implied and are too small to be reliably detectable in wall sections. Observations on wall sections cannot therefore be accepted as proof that microfibril reorientation has not occured and it is concluded that the multinet growth hypothesis still stands as applying both to parenchyma and to collenchyma cells. In view of the wide dispersity in the structure of the walls of growing cells, it is recommended that the qualifying ‘multinet’ should be dropped and replaced by ‘passive reorientation’.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- MGH:
-
multinet growth hypothesis
References
Balashov, V., Preston, R.D., Ripley, G.W., Spark, L.C. (1957) Structure and mechanical properties of vegetable fibres. I. The influence of strain on the orientation of cellulose microfibrils in sisal leaf fibres. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B 146, 460–468
Bonner, J. (1935) Zum Mechanismus der Zellstreckung auf Grund der Micellarlehre. Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 82, 377–409
Chafe, S.C., Wardrop, A.B. (1972) Fine structural observations on the epidermis. I. The epidermal cell wall. Planta 187, 269–278
Foster, R.C. (1962) Cell wall structure and growth. Ph.D. thesis, Leeds, U.K.
Frei, E., Preston, R.D. (1961) Cell wall organisation and wall growth in the filamentous green algae Cladophora and Chaetomorpha. II. Spiral structure and spiral growth. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. B 155, 55–77
Gertel, T.E., Green, P.B. (1977) Cell growth pattern and wall microfibrillar arrangement. Plant Physiol. 60, 247–254
Metcalfe, C.R., Chalk, L. (1957) Anatomy of the dicotyledons. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Middlebrook, M., Preston, R.D. (1952) Spiral growth and spiral structure. III. Wall structure in the growth zone of Phycomyces sporangiophores. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 9, 32–48
Preston, R.D. (1974) The physical biology of plant cell walls. Chapman and Hall, London
Preston, R.D. (1979) Polysaccharide conformation and cell wall function. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 30, 55–78
Preston, R.D., Wardrop, A.B. (1949) Submicroscopic organisation of the walls of conifer cambium. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 3, 549–559
Probine, M.C., Barber, N.F. (1966) The structure and plastic properties of the cell wall of Nitella in relation to extension growth. Aust. J. Biol. Soc. 19, 439–457
Probine, M.C., Preston, R.D. (1961) Cell growth and the structure and mechanical properties of the wall in internodal cells of Nitella opaca. I. Wall structure and growth. J. Exp. Bot. 12, 241–282
Probine, M.C., Preston, R.D. (1962) Cell growth and the structure and mechanical properties of the wall in internodal cells of Nitella opaca. II. mechanical properties of the walls. J. Exp. Bot. 13, 111–127
Roelofsen, P.A. (1951) Orientation of cellulose fibrils in the cell wall of growing cotton hairs and its bearing on the physiology of wall growth. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 7, 43–53
Roelofsen, P.A., Houwink, A.L. (1953) Architecture and growth of the primary wall in some plant hairs and in the Phycomyces sporangiophore. Acta Bot. Neerl. 2, 218–225
Roland, J.-C., Vian, B. (1979) The wall of the growing plant cell and its three-dimensional organisation. Int. Rev. Cytol. 61, 129–166
Sargent, C. (1978) Differentiation of the crossed-fibrillar outer epidermal wall during extension growth in Heracleum vulgaris L. Protoplasma 95, 309–320
Wardrop, A.B. (1969) The structure of the cell wall in lignified collenchyma of Eryngium sp. (Umbelliferae). Aust. J. Bot. 17, 229–240
Wardrop, A.B., Walters-Arts, M., Sassen, M.M.A. (1979) Changes in microfibril orientation in the walls of elongating plant cells. Acta Bot. Neerl. 28, 313–333
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Preston, R.D. The case for multinet growth in growing walls of plant cells. Planta 155, 356–363 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429465
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429465