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Title: Tubulin perturbation leads to unexpected cell wall modifications and affects stomatal behaviour in Populus

Journal Article · · Journal of Experimental Botany
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv383· OSTI ID:1343289
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [6];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States); Washington State Univ., Prosser, WA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
  3. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
  4. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (United States)
  5. Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei (Taiwan)
  6. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

Cortical microtubules are integral to plant morphogenesis, cell wall synthesis, and stomatal behaviour, presumably by governing cellulose microfibril orientation. Genetic manipulation of tubulins often leads to abnormal plant development, making it difficult to probe additional roles of cortical microtubules in cell wall biogenesis. Here, it is shown that expressing post-translational C-terminal modification mimics of α-tubulin altered cell wall characteristics and guard cell dynamics in transgenic Populus tremula x alba that otherwise appear normal. 35S promoter-driven transgene expression was high in leaves but unusually low in xylem, suggesting high levels of tubulin transgene expression were not tolerated in wood-forming tissues during regeneration of transformants. Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents were unaffected in transgenic wood, but expression of cell wall-modifying enzymes, and extractability of lignin-bound pectin and xylan polysaccharides were increased in developing xylem. The results suggest that pectin and xylan polysaccharides deposited early during cell wall biogenesis are more sensitive to subtle tubulin perturbation than cellulose and matrix polysaccharides deposited later. Tubulin perturbation also affected guard cell behaviour, delaying drought-induced stomatal closure as well as light-induced stomatal opening in leaves. Pectins have been shown to confer cell wall flexibility critical for reversible stomatal movement, and results presented here are consistent with microtubule involvement in this process. In conclusion, taken together, the data show the value of growth-compatible tubulin perturbations for discerning microtubule functions, and add to the growing body of evidence for microtubule involvement in non-cellulosic polysaccharide assembly during cell wall biogenesis.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0008470
OSTI ID:
1343289
Journal Information:
Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 66, Issue 20; ISSN 0022-0957
Publisher:
Oxford University PressCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 16 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Compensatory Guaiacyl Lignin Biosynthesis at the Expense of Syringyl Lignin in 4CL1 -Knockout Poplar journal March 2020
Tubulin C-terminal Post-translational Modifications Do Not Occur in Wood Forming Tissue of Populus journal October 2016
Genome-wide comparative and evolutionary analysis of Calmodulin-binding Transcription Activator (CAMTA) family in Gossypium species journal April 2018
Branching out: a new era of investigating physiological processes in forest trees using genomic tools journal February 2018
PP2A and microtubules function in 5‐aminolevulinic acid‐mediated H 2 O 2 signaling in Arabidopsis guard cells journal June 2019