Cell Components

This first volume in Modern Methods of Plant Analysis, New Series deals with cell components and organelles. In contrast to many other publications on cell fractionation, it begins with chapters on the cell wall, the structure that sets most plant cells apart from animal and bacterial cells and that made studies of plant cell components extremely difficult until the advent of protoplast formation by enzymatic breakdown of the cell wall. Perhaps the most significant breakthrough in plant cell fractionation, protoplast formation is dealt with in the third chapter, following a chapter on the use of "markers" in cell fractionation. All the major cell components and organelles are covered in turn, and the suitability of each method for analytical or preparative use is indicated. This volume provides an extremely useful foundation for later volumes in the series.