Why Plant Cell Walls?

Cell walls determine the quality of most plant-based products in:

• human nutrition and health
• fibres for textiles
• timber and paper products

Cell walls are a source of renewable biomass for production of biofuels

• around 180 billion tonnes of cellulose is renewed each year

The key biological questions are unanswered:

• genetic control - 1000s of genes involved, what are they and how are they regulated?
• cellular pathways
• physicochemical nature of biocomposites

Plant Cell Walls in the Grasses

Grasses are the most important plants for human societies, they:

• provide the main source of caloric intake in humans - wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and barley
• are used as forage and fodder for domesticated animals
• are promising as biomass energy crops