Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to obtain high-resolution images on a wide variety of materials. Unfortunately, plant cell wall material is typically too rough to be imaged as native tissue by AFM. Small tissue fragments can be produced through careful ball milling. These fragments can subsequently be imaged at high resolution in near native conditions showing the overall architecture and the arrangement of the individual cellulose fibrils. An overview of items that can cause practical difficulties is given, as is a description of common image artifacts.
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Acknowledgements
The research described in this article was funded through the BBSRC core support grant to the Institute of Food Research.
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Kirby, A.R. (2011). Atomic Force Microscopy of Plant Cell Walls. In: Popper, Z. (eds) The Plant Cell Wall. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 715. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-008-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-008-9_12
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-007-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-008-9
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