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1. Glucosylceramides impact cellulose deposition and cellulose synthase complex motility in Arabidopsis

   https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cwae035  

   Villalobos, Jose_A; Cahoon, Rebecca_E; Cahoon, Edgar_B; Wallace, Ian_S (May 2024, Glycobiology)

   Abstract Cellulose is an abundant component of plant cell wall matrices, and this para-crystalline polysaccharide is synthesized at the plasma membrane by motile Cellulose Synthase Complexes (CSCs). However, the factors that control CSC activity and motility are not fully resolved. In a targeted chemical screen, we identified the alkylated nojirimycin analog N-Dodecyl Deoxynojirimycin (ND-DNJ) as a small molecule that severely impacts Arabidopsis seedling growth. Previous work suggests that ND-DNJ-related compounds inhibit the biosynthesis of glucosylceramides (GlcCers), a class of glycosphingolipid associated with plant membranes. Our work uncovered major changes in the sphingolipidome of plants treated with ND-DNJ, including reductions in GlcCer abundance and altered acyl chain length distributions. Crystalline cellulose content was also reduced in ND-DNJ-treated plants as well as plants treated with the known GlcCer biosynthesis inhibitor N-[2-hydroxy-1-(4-morpholinylmethyl)-2-phenyl ethyl]-decanamide (PDMP) or plants containing a genetic disruption in GLUCOSYLCERAMIDE SYNTHASE (GCS), the enzyme responsible for sphingolipid glucosylation that results in GlcCer synthesis. Live-cell imaging revealed that CSC speed distributions were reduced upon treatment with ND-DNJ or PDMP, further suggesting an important relationship between glycosylated sphingolipid composition and CSC motility across the plasma membrane. These results indicate that multiple interventions compromising GlcCer biosynthesis disrupt cellulose deposition and CSC motility, suggesting that GlcCers regulate cellulose biosynthesis in plants. 

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2. Synthesis and characterization of a new cellulose ether derivative: sodium levulinate cellulose

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s13233-023-00179-w  

   Amarasekara, Ananda S; Leday, Lauren J; Wang, Deping; Reyes, Cristian_D Gutierrez (October 2023, Macromolecular Research)
3. Phosphoregulation of the Plant Cellulose Synthase Complex and Cellulose Synthase-Like Proteins

   https://doi.org/10.3390/plants7030052  

   Speicher, Tori; Li, Patrick; Wallace, Ian (September 2018, Plants)
4. All-cellulose hydrogel-based adhesive

   https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2023.100040  

   Sun, Xia; Pang, Zhenqian; Zhu, Yeling; Yu, Zhengyang; Yang, Pu; Liu, Liyang; Renneckar, Scott; Li, Teng; Jiang, Feng (January 2023, The Innovation Materials)

   Hydrogels showing strong adhesion to different substrates have garnered significant attention for engineering applications. However, the current development of such hydrogel-based adhesive is predominantly limited to synthetic polymers, owing to their exceptional performance and an extensive array of chemical options. To advance the development of sustainable hydrogel-based adhesives, we successfully create a highly robust all-cellulose hydrogel-based adhesive, which is composed of concentrated dialcohol cellulose nanorods (DCNRs) and relies on enhanced hydrogen bonding interactions between cellulose and the substrate. We implement a sequential oxidization-reduction process to achieve this high-performance all-cellulose hydrogel, which is realized by converting the two secondary hydroxyl groups within an anhydroglucose unit into two primary hydroxyl groups, while simultaneously linearizing the cellulose chains. Such structural and chemical modifications on cellulose chains increase out-of-plane interactions between the DCNRs hydrogel and substrate, as simulations indicate. Additionally, these modifications enhance the flexibility of the cellulose chains, which would otherwise be rigid. The resulting all-cellulose hydrogels demonstrate injectability and strong adhesion capability to a wide range of substrates, including wood, metal, glass, and plastic. This green and sustainable all-cellulose hydrogel-based adhesive holds great promise for future bio-based adhesive design. 

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5. Flaw sensitivity of cellulose paper

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2022.101865  

   Chen, Qiongyu; Chen, Bo; Jing, Shuangshuang; Liu, Yu; Li, Teng (October 2022, Extreme Mechanics Letters)