The Plant Cell Wall
A plant cell wall is a layered coat of cellulose fibres in a gel-like matrix, with a thin shared layer between neighbours. It resists the push of water inside the cell, supports the plant, and has channels that still link neighbouring cells.
Click a marker or a list item to highlight it.
Labelled parts
Key points
- Cellulose fibres give the wall strength, like steel rods inside concrete.
- Neighbouring cells are glued together by the middle lamella.
- Plasmodesmata are narrow channels through the wall that let water and small molecules pass between cells.
Check yourself
What is the main material of a plant cell wall?
Check yourself
What do plasmodesmata do?
Explanations rewritten in our own words from Biology 2e, Chapter 4: Cell Structure (OpenStax), licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/4-introduction