|
Dr Michael Jarvis
Department of
Chemistry Telephone:
+44 (0) 141 330 4653 |
Mike
Jarvis's research group works on plant cell walls and the polymers that
comprise them, from a variety of points of view: plant development and
biomechanics, wood science, food texture. Most cell-wall polymers are
carbohydrates with a spectacular capacity for forming complex supramolecular
structures. They are at the centre of the fundamental mechanisms by which
plants take shape and withstand the forces imposed on them by their
environment.
Molecules |
Materials |
Methods |
Plant cell walls are among the most sophisticated structural
materials known to man. They also control the growth and form of plants: in
fact the growth of a plant is, in one sense, simply the growth of its cell
walls. And in the form of wood, plant cell walls are the most abundant material
in the living world. Our long-term
objective is to understand how the strength and resilience of the cell wall is
derived from its molecular architecture, but we are also concerned with the
role of cell walls in the growth and development of plants. Applied projects
are on an equal footing with fundamental science.
Much of our present research uses spectroscopic methods. We were one
of the first groups to apply solid-state NMR spectroscopy to plant materials,
not only to investigate polymer structures and conformations but also to probe
the rigidity of individual polymers within the composite network that comprises
the cell wall. We have pioneered the use of this method to measure molecular
rigidity in living plant materials as well as in cell walls extracted from
them. We also use FTIR microscopy in a number of innovative ways, making use of
polarisation as a probe for molecular or bond orientation and bandshifts to
measure the distortion of molecules when the sample is under mechanical stress.
More recently, with various collaborators at
If you are interested in working with us or in coming here as a research
student, please feel free to contact us informally. For general information on
employment at the
Back to Chemistry Staff Page.