Determining plant cell wall synthesis and integrity mechanisms using small molecules

生物基产品有可能提高加拿大自然资源和环境质量的可持续性;这是因为它们可以用来抵消我们对石油的依赖，以生产燃料和塑料等材料。植物含有数百种对生物基产品有用的成分。例如，植物的细胞壁是棉花等常见纺织品和木材等建筑材料的来源。然而，一些细胞壁成分也可以转化为塑料和燃料。我们的研究旨在了解植物如何制造细胞壁。我们对纤维素是如何制造的特别感兴趣，因为这是植物细胞壁的主要成分之一，而且它有许多潜在的用途。我们正在使用模式植物拟南芥来帮助我们深入了解这一重要的生物学问题。

Biobased products have the potential to improve the sustainability of Canada's natural resources and environmental quality; this is because they can be used to offset our dependence on petroleum for the production of fuels and materials like plastics. Plants contain hundreds of components that are useful for biobased products. For example, the cell walls of plants are the source of familiar textiles like cotton and building materials like wood. However, some cell wall components can also be converted to plastics and fuels. Our research is aimed at understanding how plants make cell walls. We are particularly interested in how cellulose is made, since this is one of the main components of plant cell walls and since it has many potential uses. We are using the model plant Arabidopsis to help us gain insight into this important biological question.