A transmission electron microscope study has shown that an unstained layer, thought to contain covalently bound fatty acids, completely surrounds the cuticle cells of wool fibers. Alcoholic alkali and chlorine treatments, which both release covalently bound fatty acids, result in the disappearance of the unstained layer. This layer is thought to be an integral part of the cuticle cell membrane. Similar unstained layers between cortical cells are different from the unstained cuticle membrane, because they remain unmodified by alcoholic alkali treatments.
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