文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：β-tubulin affects cellulose microfibril orientation in plant secondary fibre cell walls

作者：Spokevicius, Antanas V.[3] Southerton, Simon G.[4] MacMillan, Colleen P.[4] Qiu, Deyou[1,4] Gan, Siming[2,4] Tibbits, Josquin F.G.[3] Moran, Gavin F.[5] Bossinger, Gerd[3]

第一作者：Spokevicius, Antanas V.

通信作者：Bossinger, G.

机构：[1] Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, 100091, Beijing, China; [2] Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Longdong, Guangzhou, 510520, China; [3] University of Melbourne, School of Forest and Ecosystem Science, Water Street, Creswick, Vic. 3363, Australia; [4] Ensis - the Joint Forces of CSIRO and SCION, Genetics, PO Box E4008, Kingston, ACT 2604, Australia; [5] Australian National University, School of Botany and Zoology, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

年份：2007

卷号：51

期号：4

起止页码：717-726

外文期刊名：Plant Journal

收录：EI(收录号：20073310763856);Scopus(收录号：2-s2.0-34547734962)

语种：英文

外文关键词：Cells - Cellulose - Morphology

摘要：Cellulose microfibrils are the major structural component of plant secondary cell walls. Their arrangement in plant primary cell walls, and its consequent influence on cell expansion and cellular morphology, is directed by cortical microtubules; cylindrical protein filaments composed of heterodimers of α- and β-tubulin. In secondary cell walls of woody plant stems the orientation of cellulose microfibrils influences the strength and flexibility of wood, providing the physical support that has been instrumental in vascular plant colonization of the troposphere. Here we show that a Eucalyptus grandisβ-tubulin gene (EgrTUB1) is involved in determining the orientation of cellulose microfibrils in plant secondary fibre cell walls. This finding is based on RNA expression studies in mature trees, where we identified and isolated EgrTUB1 as a candidate for association with wood-fibre formation, and on the analysis of somatically derived transgenic wood sectors in Eucalyptus. We show that cellulose microfibril angle (MFA) is correlated with EgrTUB1 expression, and that MFA was significantly altered as a consequence of stable transformation with EgrTUB1. Our findings present an important step towards the production of fibres with altered tensile strength, stiffness and elastic properties, and shed light on one of the molecular mechanisms that has enabled trees to dominate terrestrial ecosystems. ? 2007 The Authors.