Development of Secondary Cell Wall in Cotton Fibers As Examined with FT-IR Spectroscopy

Our presentation will focus on continuing efforts to examine secondary cell wall development in cotton fibers using infrared Spectroscopy. Cotton fibers harvested at 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 days after flowering were examined using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy. The selected harvesting points coincide with secondary cell wall (SCW) development in the fibers. A discussion of bands assignments and significant spectral changes among the examined fibers will be presented. Particular attention will be given to changes in the C-O vibrations at at 1002 and 985 cm^-1 and changes in their O-H stretching bands of deuterated fiber samples.