Output details
12 - Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering
University of Birmingham : B - Chemical Engineering
Determining the mechanical properties of yeast cell walls
Compression testing by micromanipulation with associated mathematical modelling can be used to find mechanical properties of biological cell walls. This paper describes an important innovation in this technique, made by a student on a BBSRC studentship. Using very high compression speeds, time dependent effects such as water loss could be neglected. This allowed much more information to be extracted from compression data, specifically for yeast cells. Such information should be useful in designing yeast disruption equipment and in studying yeast cell wall physiology. The new technique will lead to improved research on the biomechanics of other microorganisms.