We have sought in this book to present a series of portraits of the plant cell wall as it participates in various different aspects of the life of the plant cell. Hardly any event in the cell''s life occurs without involving the wall in some way, and as a result the book covers almost every aspect of plant cell biology, albeit from a special point of view. In presenting the various portraits, we have tried to show how the biochemistry, physiology and fine structure combine to give a full picture. In many cases, however, cell-wall research has not progressed far enough to give a complete picture, and numerous gaps remain. We are most grateful to Mike Black and John Chapman for inviting us to write this book and for their advice; to Clem Earle for his encouragement and help; to Dr P.M. Dey for his helpful comments; to the many contributors of photographs and diagrams; to Ros Brett, for taking more than her share of the parenting while writing was in progress; and, most especially, to Su Waldron for doing all the work on the word processor.
