Gradient in Dissolution Capacity of Successively Deposited Cell Wall Layers in Cotton Fibres

The dissolution of cotton fibres has been studied at different development stages before and after the onset of secondary wall deposition in solvents of varying quality. We show that the dissolution of the primary wall is inefficient even in good solvents. In moderately good solvents, the inside of the secondary wall dissolves by fragmentation, whereas the outside of the secondary wall swells. These data demonstrate the existence of a centripetal radial gradient in the dissolution capacity within the fibre, which must be related to age‐dependent structural variation in the cell wall layers.