ABSTRACT
Tissues and plant organs result from the assembly of hundreds of molecules connected with low-energy bonds. These constructions lead to the formation of units which are heterogeneous on several scales from nm to cm and that have important biological functions. Self-assembly, in the general sense of the term, can be defined as the spontaneous formation of complex hierarchical structures from simple “bricks”. The formation of organized molecular systems in living organisms, self-assembly, is thus based on the combination of molecules well suited for spontaneous assembly. The microstructures that form proceed without a component accumulation phase: there is a simultaneity of synthesis and assembly, and the limiting stage in terms of kinetics is always the synthetic phase. The plant cell wall is a complex macromolecular assembly which performs a range of functions. Self-assembly behaviour brings to reconsider the search for new properties when they are based on supramolecular organization.
