PtrCel9A6, an Endo-l,4-β-Glucanase,Is Required for Cell Wall Formation during Xylem Differentiation in Populus

ABSTRACT Endo-l,4-β-glucanases （EGases） are involved in many aspects of plant growth. Our previous study found that an EGase, PtrCel9A6, is specifically expressed in differentiating xylem cells during Populus secondary growth. In this study, the xylem-specific PtrCel9A6 was characterized for its role in xylem differentiation. The EGase is localized on the plasma membrane with catalytic domain toward the outside cell wall, hydrolyzing amorphous cellulose. Suppression of PtrCel9A6 expression caused secondary cell wall defects in xylem cells and significant cellulose reduction in Populus. Heterologous expression of PtrCelgA6 in Arabidopsis enhanced plant growth as well as increased fiber cell length. In addition, introduction of PtrCel9A6 into Arabidopsis resulted in male sterility due to defects in anther dehiscence. Together, these results demonstrate that PtrCel9A6 plays a critical role in remodeling the 1,4-β-glucan chains in the wall matrix and is required for cell wall thickening during Populus xylem differentiation.     

人类致病菌新型隐球酵母Snf1/AMPK 蛋白激酶调节细胞壁的完整性

摘要：【目的】Snf1/AMPK在真核生物中是重要的且高度保守的一类蛋白激酶。在新型隐球酵母中,SNF1 基因在调节致病因子的生物合成和细胞毒力方面具有重要作用。本文进一步报道了该基因在维持细胞壁完整方面的新功能,这一功能在其他微生物中未见报道。【方法】利用荧光增白剂染料（Calcofluor white dye）染色,荧光显微观察细胞分离、胞壁完整性;利用恒定流速和压力水流冲击菌落,测定细胞黏附琼脂糖表面能力;在含有十二烷基硫酸钠（Sodium dodecyl sulfate,SDS）,刚果红（Congo red）染料和增白剂（Fluorescent Brightener 28）的培养基上观察突变株的生长情况,以验证细胞壁完整性。【结果】SNF1 基因突变菌株对细胞壁抑制剂SDS等敏感,表明细胞壁完整性的损坏;在葡萄糖固体培养基上表现为细胞与琼脂间的黏附力丧失;在热击压力下,该菌株不能正常生长,而这种生长缺陷能够被渗透平衡抑制。【结论】新型隐球酵母SNF1 基因对于维持细胞壁完整性是非常重要的,并且影响细胞与琼脂间黏附作用以及细胞对抗热的能力。     

白念珠菌破壁方法的研究应用进展

细胞壁作为真菌中特殊和必须的细胞结构,相对于哺乳动物的细胞膜更加坚硬,难以用简单的方法使其充分破碎。因此,达到理想的破壁效果是白念珠菌研究中的关键步骤之一。在提取白念珠菌RNA、DNA和蛋白质等细胞组分的过程中,为获得足量和稳定的实验样品。该文对多种白念珠菌破壁方法作一综述,以便为白念珠菌相关研究提供适用、高效的破壁方案。     

植物伸展蛋白的研究进展

伸展蛋白是高等植物细胞壁中一族富含羟脯氨酸的糖蛋白,在植物细胞壁中发挥着重要的生理功能。综述了近几十年对伸展蛋白结构、功能、基因家族以及生物合成与基因表达调节的研究进展。     

Genome-wide Expression Profiling in Seedlings of the Arabidopsis Mutant uro that is Defective in the Secondary Cell Wall Formation

Plant secondary growth is of tremendous importance, not only for plant growth and development but also for economic usefulness. Secondary tissues such as xylem and phloem are the conducting tissues in plant vascular systems, essentially for water and nutrient transport, respectively. On the other hand, products of plant secondary growth are important raw materials and renewable sources of energy. Although advances have been recently made towards describing molecular mechanisms that regulate secondary growth, the genetic control for this process is not yet fully understood. Secondary cell wall formation in plants shares some common mechanisms with other plant secondary growth processes. Thus, studies on the secondary cell wall formation using Arabidopsis may help to understand the regulatory mechanisms for plant secondary growth. We previously reported phenotypic characterizations of an Arabidopsis semi-dominant mutant, upright rosette （uro）, which is defective in secondary cell wall growth and has an unusually soft stem. Here, we show that lignification in the secondary cell wall in uro is aberrant by analyzing hypocotyl and stem. We also show genome-wide expression profiles of uro seedlings, using the Affymetrix GeneChip that contains approximately 24 000 Arabidopsis genes. Genes identified with altered expression levels include those that function in plant hormone biosynthesis and signaling, cell division and plant secondary tissue growth. These results provide useful information for further characterizations of the regulatory network in plant secondary cell wall formation.     

植物次生细胞壁生物合成的转录调控网络

植物次生细胞壁包含纤维素、半纤维素和木质素, 赋予细胞壁机械强度及疏水性, 这种特性对植物直立生长、水分和营养物质运输以及抵御生物和非生物胁迫十分重要。该文总结了调控次生细胞壁生物合成的转录因子及其调控机制, 包括NAC转录因子调控次生壁合成的一级开关作用, AtMYB46/AtMYB83及其下游调控因子的二级开关作用, 以及其它转录因子对次生壁生物合成的调控作用, 并对未来研究内容和方法进行了展望, 以期为深入系统理解次生细胞壁生物合成的转录调控网络提供参考。     

Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA Mutants Implicate GAUT Genes in the Biosynthesis of Pectin and Xylan in Cell Walls and Seed Testa

Galacturonosyltransferase 1 （GAUT1） is an α1,4-D-galacturonosyltransferase that transfers galacturonic acid from uridine 5＇-diphosphogalacturonic acid onto the pectic polysaccharide homogalacturonan （Sterling et al., 2006）. The 25-member Arabidopsis thaliana GAUT1-related gene family encodes 15 GAUT and 10 GAUT-like （GATL） proteins with, respectively, 56-84 and 42-53% amino acid sequence similarity to GAUT1. Previous phylogenetic analyses of AtGAUTs indicated three clades： A through C. A comparative phylogenetic analysis of the Arabidopsis, poplar and rice GAUT families has sub-classified the GAUTs into seven clades： clade A-1 （GAUTs 1 to 3）; A-2 （GAUT4）; A-3 （GAUTs 5 and 6）; A-4 （GAUT7）; B-1 （GAUTs 8 and 9）; B-2 （GAUTs 10 and 11）; and clade C （GAUTs 12 to 15）. The Arabidopsis GAUTs have a distribution comparable to the poplar orthologs, with the exception of GAUT2, which is absent in poplar. Rice, however, has no orthologs of GAUTs 2 and 12 and has multiple apparent orthologs of GAUTs 1, 4, and 7 compared with eitherArabidopsis or poplar. The cell wall glycosyl residue compositions of 26 homozygous T-DNA insertion mutants for 13 of 15 Arabidopsis GAUTgenes reveal significantly and reproducibly different cell walls in specific tissues of gaut mutants 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 from that of wild-type Arabidopsis walls. Pectin and xylan polysaccharides are affected by the loss of GAUT function, as demonstrated by the altered galacturonic acid, xylose, rhamnose, galactose, and arabinose composition of distinct gaut mutant walls. The wall glycosyl residue compositional phenotypes observed among the gaut mutants suggest that at least six different biosynthetic linkages in pectins and/or xylans are affected by the lesions in these GAUTgenes. Evidence is also presented to support a role for GAUT11 in seed mucilage expansion and in seed wall and mucilage composition.     

Identification of Lignin and Polysaccharide Modifications in Populus Wood by Chemometric Analysis of 2D NMR Spectra from Dissolved Cell Walls

2D ^13C-^1H HSQC NMR spectroscopy of acetylated cell walls in solution gives a detailed fingerprint that can be used to assess the chemical composition of the complete wall without extensive degradation. We demonstrate how multivariate analysis of such spectra can be used to visualize cell wall changes between sample types as high-resolution 2D NMR loading spectra. Changes in composition and structure for both lignin and polysaccharides can subsequently be interpreted on a molecular level. The multivariate approach alleviates problems associated with peak picking of overlapping peaks, and it allows the deduction of the relative importance of each peak for sample discrimination. As a first proof of concept, we compare Populus tension wood to normal wood. All well established differences in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin compositions between these wood types were readily detected, confirming the reliability of the multivariate approach, In a second example, wood from transgenic Populus modified in their degree of pectin methylesterification was compared to that of wild-type trees. We show that differences in both lignin and polysaccharide composition that are difficult to detect with traditional spectral analysis and that could not be a priori predicted were revealed by the multivariate approach. 2D NMR of dissolved cell wall samples combined with multivariate analysis constitutes a novel approach in cell wall analysis and provides a new tool that will benefit cell wall research.     

Cell Wall Microstructure Analysis Implicates Hemicellulose Polysaccharides in Cell Adhesion in Tomato Fruit Pericarp Parenchyma

Methods developed to isolate intact cells from both unripe and ripe tomato fruit pericarp parenchyma have allowed the cell biological analysis of polysaccharide epitopes at the surface of separated cells. The LM7 pectic homogalacturonan epitope is a marker of the junctions of adhesion planes and intercellular spaces in parenchyma systems. The LM7 epitope persistently marked the former edge of adhesion planes at the surface of cells separated from unripe and ripened tomato fruit and also from fruits with the Cnr mutation. The LM 11 xylan epitope was associated, in sections, with cell walls lining intercellular space but the epitope was not detected at the surface of isolated cells, being lost during cell isolation. The LM15 xyloglucan epitope was present at the surface of cells isolated from unripe fruit in a pattern reflecting the former edge of cell adhesion planes/intercellular space but with gaps and apparent breaks. An equivalent pattern of LM15 epitope occurrence was revealed at the surface of cells isolated by pectate lyase action but was not present in cells isolated from ripe fruit or from Cnr fruit. In contrast to wild-type cells, the LM5 galactan and LM21 mannan epitopes occurred predominantly in positions reflecting intercellular space in Cnr, suggesting a concerted alteration in cell wall microstructure in response to this mutation. Galactanase and mannanase, along with pectic homogalacturonan-degrading enzymes, were capable of releasing cells from unripe fruit parenchyma. These observations indicate that hemicellulose polymers are present in architectural contexts reflecting cell adhesion and that several cell wall polysaccharide classes are likely to contribute to cell adhesion/cell separation in tomato fruit pericarp parenchyma.     

硅对盐胁迫下枣树组织培养苗细胞壁形成和相关酶活性的影响

盐胁迫（75mmol·L^-1 NaCl）下,枣树微茎段外植体成活率、生根率及枣苗的侧根条数和长度、苗高、单株重量均较对照显著减小;盐胁迫下加硅（Si）（0．75mmol·L^-1 KSiO3）,枣苗的前述指标与对照无显著性差异。盐胁迫下,枣组织培养生根苗细胞壁提取率显著下降,细胞壁中蛋白和低分子量果胶含量显著降低,EDTAU溶性果胶和碱溶性果胶含量显著提高,半纤维素和纤维素含量降低;盐胁迫下加Si,枣苗细胞壁提取率显著提高,细胞壁主要戍分的含量水平与对照相近。与盐胁迫下相比,盐胁迫下加Si,虽然枣苗果胶甲酯酶（PME）和多聚半乳糖醛酸酶（PG）活性升高未达显著性差异水平,但纤维素酶（Cx）活性显著降低,3种水解酶活性的比值均显著增大,细胞壁共价结合态H^＋-ATP酶活性显著升高。结果说明,提高培养基可溶性Si水平,可显著改善受盐胁迫枣苗细胞壁水解酶的活性平衡、组分含量的均衡及细胞壁内外溶质的适应性分配,从而为枣苗较好生长奠定了基础。