As a fundamental step towards creating a new class of cellulose engineering materials, the proposed research investigated swelling and dissolution of cellulose in NaOH aqueous solvent systems (NaOH/H2O, NaOH/thiourea/H2O and NaOH/thiourea/urea/H2O). The dependence of swelling and dissolution behavior of cellulose fibers on the quality of the solvent was investigated in detail. For the two cellu...

Arginase is the only enzyme capable of producing urea in plants. This enzyme also contributes to many important biological functions during plant growth and development, such as seed development, root development and plant nitrogen using. The unique rice arginase gene OsARG is known to affect nitrogen use efficiency and is also associated with higher yields in rice. In this study, we transforme...

Vacuolar invertase (VIN) has long been considered as a major player in cell expansion. However, direct evidence for this view is lacking due, in part, to the complexity of multicellular plant tissues. Here, we used cotton (Gossypium spp.) fibers, fast-growing single-celled seed trichomes, to address this issue. VIN activity in elongating fibers was approximately 4-6-fold higher than that in lea...

Annexins are assumed to be involved in regulating cotton fiber elongation, but direct evidence remains to be presented. Here we cloned six Annexin genes (AnxGb) abundantly expressed in fiber from sea-island cotton (G. barbadense). qRT-PCR results indicated that all six G. barbadense annexin genes were expressed in elongating cotton fibers, while only the expression of AnxGb6 was cotton fiber-sp...

Cotton fibers are single-celled extensions of the seed epidermis. They can be isolated in pure form as they undergo staged differentiation including primary cell wall synthesis during elongation and nearly pure cellulose synthesis during secondary wall thickening. This combination of features supports clear interpretation of data about cell walls and cellulose synthesis in the context of high t...

The presence of defects in cold mercerizing of cotton goods led to the creation of a new method, called hot mercerizing in which caustic soda solution is used at a high temperature. Hot mercerizing is successfully used in cotton blended with some other fibers. In cotton/polyester blend fabrics, this treatment serves a dual purpose: subjectively, it imparts a silklike &#10&#10&#10soft handle to ...

This research fills in the missing knowledge on moisture management and air permeability of knitted fabrics developed using mixed cotton/antistatic polyester yarns with both antibacterial antistatic behavior to enhance their functionality. The effect knit pattern, technical side, percentage fiber mixture treatment water absorption capacity time, relative vapor resistance, was investigated. 1x1 ...

In previous works, we reported the fabrication of cotton-wool-like composites consisting of siloxane-doped vaterite and poly(l-lactic acid) (SiVPCs). Various irregularly shaped bone voids can be filled with the composite, which effectively supplies calcium and silicate ions, enhancing the bone formation by stimulating the cells. The composites, however, were brittle and showed an initial burst ...