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CELL WALL TRANSCRIPTION

Primary walls in second place

Nature Plants volume 4, pages 748–749 (2018)Cite this article

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Plants synthesize a diversity of cell walls to fit the needs of different cell types and phases of development. A group of transcription factors has now been identified that governs formation of one type of primary cell wall.

The researchers achieved their breakthrough by combining a clever genetic trick with brute force screening of ectopically expressed transcription factors and detailed analysis of cell wall properties. The genetic trick built on previous work showing that the NAC-family transcription factors NST1 and NST3 are required for secondary wall formation in fibre cells of Arabidopsis stems (Fig. 1b). The nst1 nst3 double mutant served as host in this study for assessing the ability of single transcription factors to induce synthesis of thickened walls in the mutant fibre cells. Brute-force screening of ~300 transcription factors under control of a fibre-cell-specific promoter netted ERF035, a member of the AP2-ERF transcription factor family. Expression of ERF035 resulted in fibre cells with thickened cell walls lacking the telltale autofluorescence of lignin, characteristic of secondary walls in normal fibres (Fig. 1c). The absence of lignin, by itself, does not prove this to be a primary cell wall. Some secondary cell walls have little or no lignin — the so-called gelatinous layer (G-layer)8 in fibre cells of tension wood is a case in point. Further characterization of the ERF035-induced cell walls included analysis by electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, tensile testing, sugar composition, epitope detection, transcript profiling and physical binding of ERF035 protein to the promoter of CELLULOSE SYNTHASE 1, which is active during primary wall formation. These and other results point to the conclusion that ERF035 directs formation of a primary cell wall.

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Fig. 1: Wall formation in fibre cells.

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  1. Department of Biology and Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Daniel J. Cosgrove

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  1. Daniel J. Cosgrove
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Correspondence to Daniel J. Cosgrove.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Cosgrove, D.J. Primary walls in second place. Nature Plants 4, 748–749 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0278-7

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