Cotton seed hair formation is an impressive example of how water-rich plant cells are able to control the formation and assembly of cellulose fibers and possibly some still-uncharacterized minor-fraction components, to yield a strong and insoluble secondary cell wall.  We used IR spectroscopy to study hydroxyl accessibility, molecular changes and molecular response to 30 �C-drying of wet never-dried cotton spanning later fiber developmental stages.  Preliminary analysis suggests there is little variation in total hydroxyl accessibility and concentration of crystalline cellulose, slight changes in biopolymer O-H structure, and great changes in C-O organization due to either maturation time or drying.  Biopolymers in mature cotton appear to be more disordered, but less responsive to drying.  We believe the study supports the presence and biological regulation of a dynamic paracrystalline phase of cellulose on fibril surfaces that binds water and/or minor biopolymer fractions tenaciously, while also being structurally distinct from regenerated cellulose.

Property transformations in the non-crystalline biopolymers of cotton seed hair fibers during secondary cell wall maturation

241st National Meeting (2011)

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