Ectopic expression of pectate lyase PtxtPL1-27 in aspen affects leaf cuticle development
Cuticle - a hydrophobic barrier of cutin and waxes covering the outer cell wall surface of plants - enables survival in terrestrial habitats. However, it is not understood how the hydrophobic cuticle precursors travel through the homogalacturonan-rich hydrophilic cell wall. To elucidate the role of homogalacturonan in cuticle development, we disrupted its integrity by overexpressing a pectate lyase, <i>Ptxt</i>PL1-27, in aspen. <i>Ptxt</i>PL1-27 had pleiotropic effects on shoot development, including the reduction of cuticle thickness and changes in cutin and wax composition, but the expression of cutin biosynthetic genes was little affected. Despite a reduction in homogalacturonan content in the leaves, labeling with the homogalacturonan-specific antibody JIM5 in the outer epidermal cell wall layer increased and displayed an altered pattern. Moreover, the ultrastructure of cell walls was changed concomitant with lipid accumulation. We propose that the disruption of homogalacturonan integrity affected the cutinsome-dependent transport and polymerization of cutin monomers in the cell wall.
Authors
- Sivakumar Pattathil
- Mateusz Majda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3405-2901)
- Peter Immerzeel
- Alicja Banasiak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4293-8948)
- András Gorzsás (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2298-8844)
- Henrik Vibe Scheller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6702-3560)
- Asaph Aharoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6077-1590)
- Ewa J. Mellerowicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6817-1031)
- Ajaya K. Biswal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2643-155X)
- Madhusree Mitra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8653-8770)
- Marta Derba‐Maceluch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8034-3630)
- Thomas Möritz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4258-3190)
- Pramod Sivan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5297-2221)
- Sunita Kushwah
- Ilka N. Abreu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4728-0161)
- Michael G. Hahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2136-5191)
- Jesper Harholt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7984-0066)
- Vikash Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1670-3491)
- Josefina-Patricia Fernández-Moreno
Institutions
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- University of Wrocław (PL)
- Umeå Plant Science Centre (SE)
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (ES)
- Joint BioEnergy Institute (US)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Umeå University (SE)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113963
- Primary Topic
- Plant Surface Properties and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00