A biological nanofoam: The wall of coniferous bisaccate pollen.

Autor: Cojocaru R; ESRF-The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France., Mannix O; ESRF-The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France.; Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany., Capron M; ESRF-The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France.; Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter, ESRF-The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France., Miller CG; Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK., Jouneau PH; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, IRIG-MEM, Grenoble, France., Gallet B; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, IRIG-IBS, Grenoble, France., Falconet D; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, INRAE, IRIG-LPCV, Grenoble, France., Pacureanu A; ESRF-The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France., Stukins S; Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Science advances [Sci Adv] 2022 Feb 11; Vol. 8 (6), pp. eabd0892. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Feb 09.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd0892
Abstrakt: The outer layer of the pollen grain, the exine, plays a key role in the survival of terrestrial plant life. However, the exine structure in different groups of plants remains enigmatic. Here, modern and fossil coniferous bisaccate pollen were examined to investigate the detailed three-dimensional structure and properties of the pollen wall. X-ray nanotomography and volume electron microscopy are used to provide high-resolution imagery, revealing a solid nanofoam structure. Atomic force microscopy measurements were used to compare the pollen wall with other natural and synthetic foams and to demonstrate that the mechanical properties of the wall in this type of pollen are retained for millions of years in fossil specimens. The microscopic structure of this robust biological material has potential applications in materials sciences and also contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary success of conifers and other plants over geological time.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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