Pinoresinol reductase 1 impacts lignin distribution during secondary cell wall biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

Qiao Zhao, Yining Zeng, Yanbin Yin, Yunqiao Pu, Lisa A. Jackson, Nancy L. Engle, Madhavi Z. Martin, Timothy J. Tschaplinski, Shi You Ding, Arthur J. Ragauskas, Richard A. Dixon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pinoresinol reductase (PrR) catalyzes the conversion of the lignan (-)-pinoresinol to (-)-lariciresinol in Arabidopsis thaliana, where it is encoded by two genes, PrR1 and PrR2, that appear to act redundantly. PrR1 is highly expressed in lignified inflorescence stem tissue, whereas PrR2 expression is barely detectable in stems. Co-expression analysis has indicated that PrR1 is co-expressed with many characterized genes involved in secondary cell wall biosynthesis, whereas PrR2 expression clusters with a different set of genes. The promoter of the PrR1 gene is regulated by the secondary cell wall related transcription factors SND1 and MYB46. The loss-of-function mutant of PrR1 shows, in addition to elevated levels of pinoresinol, significantly decreased lignin content and a slightly altered lignin structure with lower abundance of cinnamyl alcohol end groups. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy analysis indicated that the lignin content of the prr1-1 loss-of-function mutant is similar to that of wild-type plants inxylem cells, which exhibit a normal phenotype, but is reduced in the fiber cells. Together, these data suggest an association of the lignan biosynthetic enzyme encoded by PrR1 with secondary cell wall biosynthesis in fiber cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)170-178
Number of pages9
JournalPhytochemistry
Volume112
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Funding

This paper is dedicated to the memory of G. Paul Bolwell. We thank Dr. Yuhong Tang for assistance with DNA microarray analysis. This work was supported by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (OKlahoma, United States) and the BioEnergy Science Center, a U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science . This manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Keywords

  • Interfascicular fiber
  • Lignan
  • Lignin
  • Mutant
  • Stimulated raman scattering microscopy

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