An alternate route for cellulose microfibril biosynthesis in plants.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39671498.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adr5188 and PMC identifier 11641006.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Similar to cellulose synthases (CESAs), cellulose synthase-like D (CSLD) proteins synthesize β-1,4-glucan in plants. CSLDs are important for tip growth and cytokinesis, but it was unknown whether they form membrane complexes in vivo or produce microfibrillar cellulose. We produced viable CESA-deficient mutants of the moss <i>Physcomitrium patens</i> to investigate CSLD function without interfering CESA activity. Microscopy and spectroscopy showed that CESA-deficient mutants synthesize cellulose microfibrils that are indistinguishable from those in vascular plants. Correspondingly, freeze-fracture electron microscopy revealed rosette-shaped particle assemblies in the plasma membrane that are indistinguishable from CESA-containing rosette cellulose synthesis complexes (CSCs). Our data show that proteins other than CESAs, most likely CSLDs, produce cellulose microfibrils in <i>P. patens</i> protonemal filaments. The data suggest that the specialized roles of CSLDs in cytokinesis and tip growth are based on differential expression and different interactions with microtubules and possibly Ca<sup>2+</sup>, rather than structural differences in the microfibrils they produce.
Medical subject headings
- Cellulose
- Microfibrils
- Glucosyltransferases
- Bryopsida