Cell wall The primary cell wall of land plants is composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectin. Often, other polymers such as lignin, suberin or cutin are anchored to or embedded in plant cell walls. Algae possess cell walls made of glycoproteins and polysaccharides such as carrageenan and agar that are absent from land plants. In bacteria, the cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan. The cell walls of archaea have various compositions, and may be formed of glycoprotein S-layers, pseudopeptidoglycan, or polysaccharides. Fungi possess cell walls made of the N-acetylglucosamine polymer chitin. Unusually, diatoms have a cell wall composed of biogenic
Antimicrobial polymer polymers will have trouble diffusing through the bacterial cell wall and cytoplasm. Thus much effort has been directed towards controlling the molecular weight of the polymer. Most bacterial cell walls are negatively charged, therefore most antimicrobial polymers must be positively charged to facilitate the adsorption process. The structure of the counter ion, or the ion associated with the polymer to balance charge, also affects the antimicrobial activity. Counter anions that form a strong ion-pair with the polymer impede the antimicrobial activity because the counter ion will prevent the polymer from interacting with the bacteria. However, ions that form a loose