Unlocking the architecture of native plant cell walls via solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

Understanding the biosynthesis and architecture of the plant cell wall is key to predictably engineering plants as a sustainable bioenergy source. Multi-dimensional solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) is a promising technique to investigate the three-dimensional networks formed between cell wall components in their native state, and develop models of cell wall architecture. To do this, it is necessary to produce plant material that is highly enriched in the carbon-13 isotope (¹³C), since carbon-12 (¹²C) is inactive in NMR. Here, we present a cost-effective way to generate ¹³C-enriched mature plant tissue and to determine the degree of ¹³C incorporation. We describe a series of multi-dimensional ssNMR experiments that have been used in recent studies of cell wall architecture, and provide an introduction to interpreting the resulting ssNMR spectra.