Reduced Wall Acetylation Proteins Play Vital and Distinct Roles in Cell Wall O-Acetylation in Arabidopsis

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) Vol. 163; no. 3; pp. 1107 - 1117
• Main Authors: Manabe, Yuzuki, Verhertbruggen, Yves, Gille, Sascha, Harholt, Jesper, Chong, Sun-Li, Pawar, Prashant Mohan-Anupama, Mellerowicz, Ewa J., Tenkanen, Maija, Cheng, Kun, Pauly, Markus, Scheller, Henrik Vibe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rockville, MD American Society of Plant Biologists 01.11.2013
• Subjects: Acetylation; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins - physiology; BIOCHEMISTRY AND METABOLISM; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Biokemi och molekylärbiologi; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Wall - genetics; Cell Wall - metabolism; Cell walls; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic Complementation Test; Genotypes; Glucans - metabolism; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Mutation; Phenotypes; Plant cells; Plant growth; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant physiology and development; Plants; Plants, Genetically Modified; Polysaccharides; Xylans; Xylans - metabolism; Xylem; Arabidopsis thaliana; Plant physiology; Cruciferae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Acetylation; Experimental plant; Cell wall; Protein
• ISSN: 0032-0889; 1532-2548; 1532-2548
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.113.225193

The Reduced Wall Acetylation (RWA) proteins are involved in cell wall acetylation in plants. Previously, we described a single mutant, rwa2, which has about 20% lower level of O-acetylation in leaf cell walls and no obvious growth or developmental phenotype. In this study, we generated double, triple, and quadruple loss-of-function mutants of all four members of the RWA family in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). In contrast to rwa2, the triple and quadruple rwa mutants display severe growth phenotypes revealing the importance of wall acetylation for plant growth and development. The quadruple rwa mutant can be completely complemented with the RWA2 protein expressed under 35S promoter, indicating the functional redundancy of the RWA proteins. Nevertheless, the degree of acetylation of xylan, (gluco)mannan, and xyloglucan as well as overall cell wall acetylation is affected differently in different combinations of triple mutants, suggesting their diversity in substrate preference. The overall degree of wall acetylation in the rwa quadruple mutant was reduced by 63% compared with the wild type, and histochemical analysis of the rwa quadruple mutant stem indicates defects in cell differentiation of cell types with secondary cell walls.