Title: Cellulose synthase complexes act in a concerted fashion to synthesize highly aggregated cellulose in secondary cell walls of plants

Abstract

Cellulose, often touted as the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, is a critical component of the plant cell wall and is synthesized by plasma membrane-spanning cellulose synthase (CESA) enzymes, which in plants are organized into rosette-like CESA complexes (CSCs). Plants construct two types of cell walls, primary cell walls (PCWs) and secondary cell walls (SCWs), which differ in composition, structure, and purpose. Cellulose in PCWs and SCWs is chemically identical but has different physical characteristics. During PCW synthesis, multiple dispersed CSCs move along a shared linear track in opposing directions while synthesizing cellulose microfibrils with low aggregation. In contrast, during SCW synthesis, we observed swaths of densely arranged CSCs that moved in the same direction along tracks while synthesizing cellulose microfibrils that became highly aggregated. Our data support a model in which distinct spatiotemporal features of active CSCs during PCW and SCW synthesis contribute to the formation of cellulose with distinct structure and organization in PCWs and SCWs of Arabidopsis thaliana. In conclusion, this study provides a foundation for understanding differences in the formation, structure, and organization of cellulose in PCWs and SCWs.

Authors:

Li, Shundai ^[1]; Bashline, Logan ^[1]; Zheng, Yunzhen ^[2]; Xin, Xiaoran ^[1]; Huang, Shixin ^[3]; Kong, Zhaosheng ^[4]; Kim, Seong H. ^[3]; Cosgrove, Daniel J. ^[2]; Gu, Ying ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802,
2. Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802,
3. Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802,
4. State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Publication Date:

Mon Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1325833

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1388836

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0001090

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 113 Journal Issue: 40; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; biofuels (including algae and biomass); bio-inspired; membrane; carbon sequestration; materials and chemistry by design; synthesis (self-assembly); cellulose synthase complex; live-cell imaging; cellulose microfibrils; plasma membrane; protein dynamics