Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 8 In the last few years, the new analytical tools associated with molecular biology, biochemistry, spectroscopy, microscopy, immunology, genomics and proteomics have been employed to investigate plant cell wall structure and function, providing a degree of resolution that was, until recently, unattainable. This has resulted in a growing awareness of the critical role of plant cell walls in a broad range of developmental events, adding strength and diversity to cell wall-related scientific research. This volume provides an overview of our current understanding of plant cell walls, drawing on the recent advances of plant molecular biology. It incorporates the identification of a rapidly growing number of genes and the proteins responsible for plant wall synthesis, restructuring, degradation and wall-associated signal transduction. The book bridges the biochemistry-oriented cell wall literature and the new technology-driven approaches. This is a book for academic and industrial researchers in plant cell biology, biochemistry, developmental biology, genetics and molecular biology.