Artificial cell walls
Evaluation of the cell wall Young’s modulus of the intact cells, regardless of the method used, requires assumptions about turgor pressure and cell wall thickness, which are also difficult to estimate. To overcome this obstacle and the problem of small dimensions of natural cell walls, we use model membranes (artificial cell walls). The composites are based on cellulose produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinus. Depending on the media of cultivation, we obtain a pure bacterial film (BC), bacterial cellulose with xyloglucan (BCX) or bacterial cellulose with xyloglucan and pectins (BCPX). The dimensions of films are sufficient to perform mechanical tension in a function of various additives to simulate the physiological variability of real cell walls.
