If you, like me, were previously only familiar with pectin’s powers in the context of setting jams and jellies, this statement, from a recent article in Nature about the “secret language” spoken by plant cell walls, might stop you in your tracks:
Pectin is a complicated molecule constructed from at least a dozen sugars, connected by more than 20 types of linkage, says Wolf. “It’s actually so complex that we don’t know what it looks like,” he adds.
There’s something delightfully humbling about the realisation that a product found on almost any well-stocked supermarket shelf has a molecular structure that is sufficiently sophisticated as to be impenetrable to modern science. Truly, an everyday wonder!
(Unsurprisingly, given that we can’t be certain as to pectin’s exact chemical composition or its three-dimensional structure, we also can’t synthesise it, which means that all commercial pectin is still produced from fruit—specifically the peels and pomace of apples, oranges, lemons, and limes, according to the International Pectin Producers Association, and mostly in Brazil, Denmark, and Mexico, three countries you don’t often see appearing in the same list.)
“Interference with Pectin Methylesterification Causes Dramatic Growth Phenotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana” from this 2012 Wolf Lab paper.
Pectin’s manifold uncertainties extend to the intricacies of its functionality in plant cell walls, where it seems to play an essential role in plant shape and plant health. Just as it makes the difference between fruit soup and a satisfactory toast topping in the kitchen, reducing or amplifying its expression in plants results in “root-waving and convoluted stems,” raising the stakes for topiary enthusiasts everywhere…
