Modern techniques of gene cloning have identified the CesA genes as encoding the probable catalytic subunits of the plant CelS, the cellulose synthase enzyme complex visualized in the plasma membrane as rosettes. At least 10 CesA isoforms exist in Arabidopsis and have been shown by mutant analyses to play distinct role/s in the cellulose synthesis process. Functional specialization within this ...

Background In Brazil, the forest industry accounts for 4,5% from the Gross Domestic Product and the country is the biggest Eucalyptus cellulose exporter. That’s really good news because Eucalyptus forests are a competitive and efficient alternative to convert carbon from the atmosphere in cellulose, an important source for paper and bioenergy production. The cellulose biosynthesis happens throu...

Because the plant cell wall provides the first line of defence against biotic and abiotic assaults, its functional integrity needs to be maintained under stress conditions. Through a phenotype-based compound screening approach we identified a novel cellulose synthase inhibitor, designated C17. C17 administration depletes cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs) from the plasma membrane in Arabidopsi...

The CELLULOSE SYNTHASE-LIKE C (CSLC) family is an ancient lineage within the CELLULOSE SYNTHASE/CELLULOSE SYNTHASE-LIKE (CESA/CSL) polysaccharide synthase superfamily that is thought to have arisen before the divergence of mosses and vascular plants. As studies in the flowering plant Arabidopsis have suggested synthesis of the (1,4)-beta-glucan backbone of xyloglucan (XyG), a wall polysaccharid...

Sterols play vital roles in plant growth and development, as components of membranes and as precursors to steroid hormones. Analysis of Arabidopsis mutants indicates that sterol composition is crucial for cellulose biosynthesis. Sterols are widespread in the plasma membrane (PM), suggesting a possible link between sterols and the multimeric cellulose synthase complex. In one possible scenario, ...

Annually, plants produce about 180 billion tons of cellulose making it the largest reservoir of organic carbon on Earth. Cellulose is a linear homopolymer of β(1-4)-linked glucose residues. The coordinated synthesis of glucose chains is orchestrated by specific plasma membrane-bound cellulose synthase complexes (CelS). The CelS is postulated to be composed of approximately 36 cellulose synthase...

The irregular xylem 1 (irx1) mutant of Arabidopsis has a severe deficiency in the deposition of cellulose in secondary cell walls, which results in collapsed xylem cells. This mutation has been mapped to a 140-kb region of chromosome 4. A cellulose synthase catalytic subunit was found to be located in this region, and genomic clones containing this gene complemented the irx1 mutation. IRX1 show...

Plants are constantly subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses and have evolved complex strategies to cope with these stresses. For example, plant cells endocytose plasma membrane material under stress and subsequently recycle it back when the stress conditions are relieved. Cellulose biosynthesis is a tightly regulated process that is performed by plasma membrane-localized cellulose sy...

The extracellular matrix is constructed beyond the plasma membrane, challenging mechanisms for its control by the cell. In plants, the cell wall is highly ordered, with cellulose microfibrils aligned coherently over a scale spanning hundreds of cells. To a considerable extent, deploying aligned microfibrils determines mechanical properties of the cell wall, including strength and compliance. Ce...