earticle

영어

Cell walls are of major importance to plant growth and development and to human society as they are used in a broad range of agro-industrial processes. Understanding the biosynthesis of wall polysaccharides, the major macromolecular components of walls, has attracted considerable interest in light of their fundamental importance, not just to plant function, but to man.Barley and other members of the commercially important Triticaceae are characterised by the presence of (1,3;1,4)-β-glucans in their walls. These polysaccharides are becoming recognised increasingly for their potential to lower the risk of serious diet-related conditions such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and diverticular disease as they contribute to the soluble fibre component of human diets. To date, attempts to modify plant walls have been hindered by the lack of knowledge of the genes and enzymes required for
polysaccharide biosynthesis, deposition and assembly, wall remodelling and the regulation of these processes. We are using an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach to identify and characterise the genes and proteins controlling wall development in cereals. Using genomic resources from barley, rice and wheat, we have identified and isolated candidate genes encoding enzymes involved in wall polysaccharide biosynthesis in barley and wheat. These include members of the cellulose synthase (CesA) and cellulose synthase-like (CSL) gene families. These genes have been subjected to gain-of-function experiments in Arabidopsis to determine their role in wall biosynthesis.
Here we present the results of heterologous expression of the CSLF (Burton et al., (2006) Science ) and CSLH (Doblin et al., (2009) PNAS) genes and discuss their role in β-glucan biosynthesis.
This work was supported by funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Research Council, and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Flagship Collaborative Research program, provided to the High Fibre Grains cluster via the Food Futures Flagship.