Turgor pressure measurement services
Turgor pressure, also known as hydrostatic pressure, is the pressure on the cell wall generated by the expansion of a plant cell due to the volume of water absorbed. Turgor pressure is of physiological importance to plant growth. Not only does it maintain cellular tension and keep the plant in its natural posture, it also regulates the opening and closing of stomata. The growth of plant cells is thought to be the result of a finely tuned interaction between turgor pressure (aimed at increasing volume) and rigid cell wall (aimed at limiting turgor-driven expansion). In order to describe growth at a mechanical level, it is necessary to quantify the turgor pressure and the elastic properties of the cell wall.
Over the years, the correlation between cell wall elasticity, turgor and growth has remained unclear, despite the rapid development of techniques to characterize the mechanical properties of plant cells that have contributed in elucidating how growth is controlled and coordinated. A variety of techniques have been established to estimate turgor, including pressure probes, ball tonometry and techniques based on indentation experiments.
