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Cellulose constitutes the most abundant organic material of the biosphere and is widely used in national economies. Despite the tremendous importance of cellulose, elucidation of the mechanism of its synthesis and formation of molecular and supermolecular structures has attracted much less attention than other biopolymers, viz. proteins and nucleic acids. Many textbooks and spe cialized monograhs on cellulose point to the scarcity of our knowledge of the mechanism of biosynthesis of this polymer. Reference may be made to METZ LER [1], the author of the three-volume edition 'Biochemistry. Chemical reac tions in Living Cell', who states, "In spite of the evident significance of the problem, det,ails of synthesis of cellulose and chitin, built of regular polymeric chains with ~-1,4-linkages, are practically unknown. " At the same time, considerable experimental material has accumulated to date which allows us to work out a concept on regularities of alteration in cell wall composition, of main stages in biosynthesis of cellulose, of in-celliocaliza tion of the sites responsible for biosynthesis of various cell wall polysac charides. Certain regularities are revealed concerning the regulation of synthe sis of celluiose and other polysaccharides, orientation of cellulose microfibrils on the plasmalemma surface. Attempts are made to understand structural and functional peculiarities of cellulose-synthetase incorporated in the plasma lemma. Experiments are carried out with cellulose-synthetase preparations iso lated from cells. Some questions remain to be solved.
List of contents
1 Biosynthesis of Cellulose.- 1 Cell Wall Composition.- 2 Objects Useful for the Study of the Synthesis of Cell Wall Polysaccharides.- 3 Sequence of Reactions of Biosynthesis of Cellulose and Other Structural Polysaccharides.- 4 Synthesis of Structural Polysaccharides: Localization of Reaction Sites.- 5 Dependence of Intensity of Cellulose Synthesis on Substrate Concentration.- 6 The Effect of Energy Conditions of Cells on the Biosynthesis of Cellulose.- 7 The Effect of Hormones on the Biosynthesis of Structural Polysaccharides.- 8 Effects of Cultivation Conditions on Cell Wall Regeneration by Isolated Protoplasts.- 9 The Effect of Climate and Soil Conditions on Cellulose Biosynthesis.- 10 Conclusion.- References.- II Cellulose Structure.- 1 General Notes and Definitions.- 2 The Constitution of Cellulose.- 3 Cellulose Configuration.- 4 Cellulose Conformation.- 5 Equilibrium and Kinetic Rigidity of Cellulose Macromolecular Chain and Some of its Derivatives in Solution.- 6 ThermodynamicProperties of Cellulose and its Satellites.- 7 Theoretical Methods of Modeling of Conformational Properties of Cellulose and its Derivatives.- 8 Morphological Structure of Cellulose.- 9 Experimental Methods for Studying Equilibrium and Kinetic Rigidity of Polymers in Solution.- 10 Conclusion.- 11 References.- Index of Scientific Names.
