CHAPTER 1 



CONSTITUTION AND ARCHITECTURE 

 IN THE CELL WALL 



I. Analytic Principles and Procedures 



The study of cell walls requires the techniques of many classical 

 disciplines and has stimulated the development of new ones as 

 well. The traditional methods of organic chemistry together with 

 newer biochemical methods yield considerable information about 

 the polymeric components of the wall and their constituent subunits. 

 In principle, however, the chemical approach is destructive, and 

 can provide but little direct information about spatial relations- 

 hips among these many substances. The development of physical 

 methods which allow recognition of architectural elements has 

 been of the utmost importance in the furtherance of cell wall 

 studies. Physical methods are uniquely valuable as a means for 

 probing the cell wall without disrupting it. 



A full understanding of cell wall structure will depend upon 

 the continuation of modern trends toward a combined physical- 

 chemical approach. 



We will now examine some of these analytic methods and 

 approaches, and their operational basis. The methods and concepts 

 which will be presented are designed to be illustrative rather than 

 exhaustive. Following an inquiry into methodology, the products 

 of these combined investigations will be employed in an effort to 

 construct an integrated picture of the cell wall in its organized 

 state. 



Chemical Methods 



Analysis of the cell wall by chemical means depends upon 

 successful application of two kinds of technique. First, the several 

 chemical classes represented must, be separated from one another 



