Ricerc@Sapienza

The architecture of the plant cell wall is highly dynamic, being substantially re-modeled during growth and development. Cell walls determine the size and shape of cells and contribute to the functional specialization of tissues and organs. Beyond the physiological dynamics, the wall structure undergoes changes upon biotic or abiotic stresses. In this review several cell wall traits, mainly related to pectin, one of the major matrix components, will be discussed in relation to plant development, immunity and industrial bioconversion of biomass, especially for energy production.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of animal and plants cells plays important roles in viral diseases. While in animal cells extracellular matrix components can be exploited by viruses for recognition, attachment and entry, the plant cell wall acts as a physical barrier to viral entry and adds a higher level of difficulty to intercellular movement of viruses. Interestingly, both in plant and animal systems, ECM can be strongly remodeled during virus infection, and the understanding of remodeling mechanisms and molecular players offers new perspectives for therapeutic intervention.

Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are pectic fragments derived from the partial degradation of homogalacturonan in the plant cell wall and able to elicit plant defence responses. Recent methodological advances in the isolation of OGs from plant tissues and their characterization have confirmed their role as bona fide plant Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns. Here, we describe the methods for the isolation of OGs from Arabidopsis leaf tissues and for the characterization of OG structure and biological activity.