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Cellulose microfibril angles and cell-wall polymers in different wood types of Pinus radiata

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Abstract

Four corewood types were examined from sapling trees of two clones of Pinus radiata grown in a glasshouse. Trees were grown either straight to produce normal corewood, tilted at 45° from the vertical to produce opposite corewood and compression corewood, or rocked to produce flexure corewood. Mean cellulose microfibril angle of tracheid walls was estimated by X-ray diffraction and longitudinal swelling measured between an oven dry and moisture saturated state. Lignin and acetyl contents of the woods were measured and the monosaccharide compositions of the cell-wall polysaccharides determined. Finely milled wood was analysed using solution-state 2D NMR spectroscopy of gels from finely milled wood in DMSO-d 6/pyridine-d 5. Although there was no significant difference in cellulose microfibril angle among the corewood types, compression corewood had the highest longitudinal swelling. A lignin content >32 % and a galactosyl residue content >6 % clearly divided severe compression corewood from the other corewood types. Relationships could be drawn between lignin content and longitudinal swelling, and between galactosyl residue content and longitudinal swelling. The 2D NMR spectra showed that the presence of H-units in lignin was exclusive to compression corewood, which also had a higher (1 → 4)-β-d-galactan content, defining a unique composition for that corewood type.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues at the University of Canterbury (Luis Apiolaza, Shakti Chauhan and John Walker) for provision of the wood samples, Heather Free, University of Auckland, for NMR spectroscopy of the polysaccharide and oligosaccharide standards and Michael Schmitz, University of Auckland, for assistance with the NMR spectroscopy. This work was supported by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (PROJ-12401-PPS_UOC).

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  1. J. Paul McLean

    Present address: Forest Products Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh, EH105DT, Scotland, UK

  2. Clemens M. Altaner

    Present address: New Zealand School of Forestry, The University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Maree Brennan, J. Paul McLean, Clemens M. Altaner & Philip J. Harris

  2. Department of Biochemistry, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative, Madison, WI, USA

    John Ralph

  3. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    John Ralph

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  1. Maree Brennan
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Correspondence to Philip J. Harris.

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Brennan, M., McLean, J.P., Altaner, C.M. et al. Cellulose microfibril angles and cell-wall polymers in different wood types of Pinus radiata . Cellulose 19, 1385–1404 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-012-9697-1

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