Plant cells talk to each other through tiny channels called plasmodesmata, and the walls around these channels are packed with a sugar polymer called callose that controls what passes between cells. Despite callose’s central role in plant growth and virus spread, its physical properties—how it makes cell walls stretchy, sticky, or strong—are almost completely unknown. This project will measure those mechanical properties and then use that knowledge to improve fruit growth and turn agricultural waste into useful materials. The research has already shown that different-sized callose deposits change how cellulose behaves, making it more plastic and water-holding. Now the team will test this in tomatoes and strawberries, tweaking callose-related enzymes to see if they can make fruits grow bigger or resist mechanical stress better. They will also screen leftover leaves and stems from fruit crops to see if callose’s plasticising effect can help turn plant waste into eco-friendly cellulose-based products that could replace plastic. If successful, the work could boost domestic fruit production and reduce agricultural waste—but at its core, this is fundamental science about how plant cell walls actually work, with practical applications that will emerge from that deeper understanding.
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Plasmodesmata (PD) are crucial signalling hubs in plants mediating the cell-to-cell transport of signalling molecules, metabolites, proteins and the spread of viruses. The cell walls surrounding PD are enriched in the beta-1,3 glucan polymer callose. Changes in callose metabolism, in response to developmental and environmental cues, coordinates intercellular transport and plant growth. Despite its importance, the properties of callose and the impact of its accumulation in cell wall architecture, elasticity, ductility and adhesion are virtually unknown. PD-Wall Mech is an interdisciplinary project that aims to dissect the mechanical and structural properties of PD cell walls with the goal of exploiting this knowledge in crop improvement and biomaterial development. The research through my FLF revealed that callose populations, of different size and structure, differentially accumulate at PD and interact with cell wall glycans. My work also found that callose increases cellulose plasticity and water holding capacity which impacts cell wall biomechanics. During the renewal, this knowledge will be applied in the identification of molecular factors for the design of strategies to improve fruit growth. The regulation of calloses and callose-glycan interactions will be analysed in (tomato and strawberry) fruits at different developmental stages and after mis-expression of endogenous callose-metabolic enzymes. Changes in cell wall biomechanics will indicate the potential effects of callose regulation in cell/organ growth and resilience to mechanical stresses. Molecular tools developed to study callose and glycan-interactions during the FLF, will be applied in screening the composition of fruit lignocellulosic waste (leaves and stems) aiming to identify its suitability for biomaterial development. This project key strength is its interdisciplinarity bringing physical and biological sciences together to address real world challenges. In brief, the renewal objectives are to: R.Objective 1: identify markers and the regulation of callose structures during organ growth. R.Objective 2: determine the contribution of callose structures to cell/ tissue biomechanics. R.Objective 3: apply callose knowledge and molecular probes in biomaterial development. The work tackles pressing global issues related with the impact of climate change on food security and sustainability. The work has applications in improving the growth, shelf-life and nutritional value of fruit crops through translation of fundamental knowledge on PD and cell wall regulation. The UK Fruit & Vegetable retailers industry is valued at £12.4bn in 2024 (ibisworld), but only 16% of fresh fruit were produced domestically. By addressing fruit growth, the project will benefit farmers and the UK economy and eventually decrease fruit imports. The project will also generate value from crop biomass through exploitation of our molecular tools and callose plasticizing properties in bioengineering cellulose. This will support the design of sustainable and eco-friendly cellulose-based products to substitute plastic and reduce agricultural waste. The project addresses BBSRC priorities on ‘sustainable agriculture and food security’, ‘transformative technologies’, and ‘Frontier Bioscience’. It aligns to the EPSRC themes ‘manufacturing the future’, ‘soft polymer physics’, and the cross-councils strategy on ‘Engineering Biology’. This project will deliver academic impact and contribute to build the UK workforce by training researchers in an interdisciplinary area. Working in partnership with industry and academia will maximise the research impact and contribute to UKRI five-year strategy: ‘Transforming tomorrow together’. Ultimately, the research will provide a roadmap for exploitation of knowledge in cell walls and PD on the improvement of other crops and on the sustainable use of lignocellulosic resources.
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