Post-synthetic modification of plant cell walls by expression of microbial hydrolases in the apoplast

MIF-like domain containing protein orchestrates cellular differentiation and virulence in the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic protein with chemotactic, pro-inflammatory, and growth-promoting activities first discovered in mammals. In parasites, MIF homologs are involved in immune evasion and pathogenesis. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of an MIF protein from the devastating plant pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae (Mo). The fungal genome encodes a single MIF protein (MoMIF1) that, unlike the human homolog, harbors multiple low-complexity regions (LCRs) and is unique to Ascomycota. Following infection, MoMIF1 is expressed in the biotrophic phase of the fungus, and is strongly down-regulated during subsequent necrotrophic growth in leaves and roots. We show that MoMIF1 is secreted during plant infection, affects the production of the mycotoxin tenuazonic acid and inhibits plant cell death. Our results suggest that MoMIF1 is a novel key regulator of fungal virulence that maintains the balance between biotrophy and necrotrophy during the different phases of fungal infection.

Secretory expression of β-1,3-glucomannanase in the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides for improved lipid extraction

Lipids produced by oleaginous yeasts are considered as sustainable sources for the production of biofuels and oleochemicals. The red yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides can accumulate lipids to over 70% of its dry cell mass. To facilitate lipid extraction, a recombinant β-1,3-glucomannanase, MAN5C, has been applied to partially breakdown R. toruloides cell wall. In this study, R. toruloides NP11 was engineered for secretory expression of MAN5C to simplify the lipid extraction process. Specifically, a cassette contained a codon-optimized gene MAN5C was integrated into the genome of R. toruloides by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The engineered strain NP11-MAN5C was found with proper expression and secretion of active MAN5C, yet no notable compromise in terms of cell growth and lipid production. When NP11-MAN5C cell cultures were extracted with ethyl acetate without any pretreatment, 20% of total lipids were recovered, 4.3-fold higher than that of the parental strain NP11. When the cells were heat-treated followed by extraction with ethyl acetate in the presence of the culture broth supernatants, up to 93% of total lipids were recovered, confirming beneficial effects of MAN5C produced in situ. This study provides a new strategy to engineer oleaginous yeasts for more viable lipid extraction and down-stream processes.

Plant Cell Wall Integrity Perturbations and Priming for Defense

A plant cell wall is a highly complex structure consisting of networks of polysaccharides, proteins, and polyphenols that dynamically change during growth and development in various tissues. The cell wall not only acts as a physical barrier but also dynamically responds to disturbances caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. Plants have well-established surveillance mechanisms to detect any cell wall perturbations. Specific immune signaling pathways are triggered to contrast biotic or abiotic forces, including cascades dedicated to reinforcing the cell wall structure. This review summarizes the recent developments in molecular mechanisms underlying maintenance of cell wall integrity in plant-pathogen and parasitic interactions. Subjects such as the effect of altered expression of endogenous plant cell-wall-related genes or apoplastic expression of microbial cell-wall-modifying enzymes on cell wall integrity are covered. Targeted genetic modifications as a tool to study the potential of cell wall elicitors, priming of signaling pathways, and the outcome of disease resistance phenotypes are also discussed. The prime importance of understanding the intricate details and complete picture of plant immunity emerges, ultimately to engineer new strategies to improve crop productivity and sustainability.

Cold-inducible promoter-driven knockdown of Brachypodium antifreeze proteins confers freezing and phytopathogen susceptibility

The model forage crop, Brachypodium distachyon, has a cluster of ice recrystallization inhibition (BdIRI) genes, which encode antifreeze proteins that function by adsorbing to ice crystals and inhibiting their growth. The genes were targeted for knockdown using a cold-induced promoter from rice (prOsMYB1R35) to drive miRNA. The transgenic lines showed no apparent pleiotropic developmental defects but had reduced antifreeze activity as assessed by assays for ice-recrystallization inhibition, thermal hysteresis, electrolyte leakage, and leaf infrared thermography. Strikingly, the number of cold-acclimated transgenic plants that survived freezing at -8°C was reduced by half or killed entirely, depending on the line, compared with cold-acclimated wild type plants. In addition, more leaf damage was apparent at subzero temperatures in knockdowns after infection with an ice nucleating pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae. Although antifreeze proteins have been studied for almost 60 years, this is the first unequivocal demonstration of their function by knockdown in any organism, and their dual contribution to freeze protection as well as pathogen susceptibility, independent of obvious developmental defects. These proteins are thus of potential interest in a wide range of biotechnological applications from cryopreservation, to frozen product additives, to the engineering of transgenic crops with enhanced pathogen and freezing tolerance.

Brachypodium Antifreeze Protein Gene Products Inhibit Ice Recrystallisation, Attenuate Ice Nucleation, and Reduce Immune Response

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) from the model crop, Brachypodium distachyon, allow freeze survival and attenuate pathogen-mediated ice nucleation. Intriguingly, Brachypodium AFP genes encode two proteins, an autonomous AFP and a leucine-rich repeat (LRR). We present structural models which indicate that ice-binding motifs on the ~13 kDa AFPs can “spoil” nucleating arrays on the ~120 kDa bacterial ice nucleating proteins used to form ice at high sub-zero temperatures. These models are consistent with the experimentally demonstrated decreases in ice nucleating activity by lysates from wildtype compared to transgenic Brachypodium lines. Additionally, the expression of Brachypodium LRRs in transgenic Arabidopsis inhibited an immune response to pathogen flagella peptides (flg22). Structural models suggested that this was due to the affinity of the LRR domains to flg22. Overall, it is remarkable that the Brachypodium genes play multiple distinctive roles in connecting freeze survival and anti-pathogenic systems via their encoded proteins’ ability to adsorb to ice as well as to attenuate bacterial ice nucleation and the host immune response.

Not Just a Simple Sugar: Arabinose Metabolism and Function in Plants

Growth, development, structure as well as dynamic adaptations and remodeling processes in plants are largely controlled by properties of their cell walls. These intricate wall structures are mostly made up of different sugars connected through specific glycosidic linkages but also contain many glycosylated proteins. A key plant sugar that is present throughout the plantae, even before the divergence of the land plant lineage, but is not found in animals, is l-arabinose (l-Ara). Here, we summarize and discuss the processes and proteins involved in l-Ara de novo synthesis, l-Ara interconversion, and the assembly and recycling of l-Ara-containing cell wall polymers and proteins. We also discuss the biological function of l-Ara in a context-focused manner, mainly addressing cell wall-related functions that are conferred by the basic physical properties of arabinose-containing polymers/compounds. In this article we explore these processes with the goal of directing future research efforts to the many exciting yet unanswered questions in this research area.

Coexpression of Fungal Cell Wall-Modifying Enzymes Reveals Their Additive Impact on Arabidopsis Resistance to the Fungal Pathogen, Botrytis cinerea

Simple Summary

In the present study, we created transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing two fungal acetylesterases and a fungal feruloylesterase that acts on cell wall polysaccharides and studied their possible complementary additive effects on host defense reactions against the fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea. Our results showed that the Arabidopsis plants overexpressing two acetylesterases together contributed significantly higher resistance to B. cinerea in comparison with single protein expression. Conversely, coexpression of either of the acetyl esterases together with feruloylesterase compensates the latter’s negative impact on plant resistance. The results also provided evidence that combinatorial coexpression of some cell wall polysaccharide-modifying enzymes might exert an additive effect on plant immune response by constitutively priming plant defense pathways even before pathogen invasion. These findings have potential uses in protecting valuable crops against pathogens.

Abstract

The plant cell wall (CW) is an outer cell skeleton that plays an important role in plant growth and protection against both biotic and abiotic stresses. Signals and molecules produced during host–pathogen interactions have been proven to be involved in plant stress responses initiating signal pathways. Based on our previous research findings, the present study explored the possibility of additively or synergistically increasing plant stress resistance by stacking beneficial genes. In order to prove our hypothesis, we generated transgenic Arabidopsis plants constitutively overexpressing three different Aspergillus nidulans CW-modifying enzymes: a xylan acetylesterase, a rhamnogalacturonan acetylesterase and a feruloylesterase. The two acetylesterases were expressed either together or in combination with the feruloylesterase to study the effect of CW polysaccharide deacetylation and deferuloylation on Arabidopsis defense reactions against a fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea. The transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing two acetylesterases together showed higher CW deacetylation and increased resistance to B. cinerea in comparison to wild-type (WT) Col-0 and plants expressing single acetylesterases. While the expression of feruloylesterase alone compromised plant resistance, coexpression of feruloylesterase together with either one of the two acetylesterases restored plant resistance to the pathogen. These CW modifications induced several defense-related genes in uninfected healthy plants, confirming their impact on plant resistance. These results demonstrated that coexpression of complementary CW-modifying enzymes in different combinations have an additive effect on plant stress response by constitutively priming the plant defense pathways. These findings might be useful for generating valuable crops with higher protections against biotic stresses.

Conditional promoters to investigate gene function during wheat infection by Zymoseptoria tritici

The fungus Zymoseptoria tritici causes Septoria tritici leaf blotch, which poses a serious threat to temperate-grown wheat. Recently, we described a raft of molecular tools to study the biology of this fungus in vitro. Amongst these are 5 conditional promoters (Pnar1, Pex1A, Picl1, Pgal7, PlaraB), which allow controlled over-expression or repression of target genes in cells grown in liquid culture. However, their use in the host-pathogen interaction in planta was not tested. Here, we investigate the behaviour of these promoters by quantitative live cell imaging of green-fluorescent protein-expressing cells during 6 stages of the plant infection process. We show that Pnar1 and Picl1 are repressed in planta and demonstrate their suitability for studying essential gene expression and function in plant colonisation. The promoters Pgal7 and Pex1A are not fully-repressed in planta, but are induced during pycnidiation. This indicates the presence of inducing galactose or xylose and/or arabinose, released from the plant cell wall by the activity of fungal hydrolases. In contrast, the PlaraB promoter, which normally controls expression of an α-l-arabinofuranosidase B, is strongly induced inside the leaf. This suggests that the fungus is exposed to L-arabinose in the mesophyll apoplast. Taken together, this study establishes 2 repressible promoters (Pnar1 and Picl1) and three inducible promoters (Pgal7, Pex1A, PlaraB) for molecular studies in planta. Moreover, we provide circumstantial evidence for plant cell wall degradation during the biotrophic phase of Z. tritici infection.

Post-Synthetic Reduction of Pectin Methylesterification Causes Morphological Abnormalities and Alterations to Stress Response in Arabidopsis thaliana

Pectin is a critical component of the plant cell wall, supporting wall biomechanics and contributing to cell wall signaling in response to stress. The plant cell carefully regulates pectin methylesterification with endogenous pectin methylesterases (PMEs) and their inhibitors (PMEIs) to promote growth and protect against pathogens. We expressed Aspergillus nidulans pectin methylesterase (AnPME) in Arabidopsis thaliana plants to determine the impacts of methylesterification status on pectin function. Plants expressing AnPME had a roughly 50% reduction in methylester content compared with control plants. AnPME plants displayed a severe dwarf phenotype, including small, bushy rosettes and shorter roots. This phenotype was caused by a reduction in cell elongation. Cell wall composition was altered in AnPME plants, with significantly more arabinose and significantly less galacturonic acid, suggesting that plants actively monitor and compensate for altered pectin content. Cell walls of AnPME plants were more readily degraded by polygalacturonase (PG) alone but were less susceptible to treatment with a mixture of PG and PME. AnPME plants were insensitive to osmotic stress, and their susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea was comparable to wild type plants despite their compromised cell walls. This is likely due to upregulated expression of defense response genes observed in AnPME plants. These results demonstrate the importance of pectin in both normal growth and development, and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Balanced Xylan Acetylation is the Key Regulator of Plant Growth and Development, and Cell Wall Structure and for Industrial Utilization

Xylan is the most abundant hemicellulose, constitutes about 25–35% of the dry biomass of woody and lignified tissues, and occurs up to 50% in some cereal grains. The accurate degree and position of xylan acetylation is necessary for xylan function and for plant growth and development. The post synthetic acetylation of cell wall xylan, mainly regulated by Reduced Wall Acetylation (RWA), Trichome Birefringence-Like (TBL), and Altered Xyloglucan 9 (AXY9) genes, is essential for effective bonding of xylan with cellulose. Recent studies have proven that not only xylan acetylation but also its deacetylation is vital for various plant functions. Thus, the present review focuses on the latest advances in understanding xylan acetylation and deacetylation and explores their effects on plant growth and development. Baseline knowledge about precise regulation of xylan acetylation and deacetylation is pivotal to developing plant biomass better suited for second-generation liquid biofuel production.

Expression of Cell Wall-Modifying Enzymes in Aspen for Improved Lignocellulose Processing

Wood is an important source of biomass for materials and chemicals, and a target for genetic engineering of its properties for different applications or for research. Wood properties can be altered by using different enzymes acting on cell wall polymers postsynthetically in cell walls. This approach allows for a precise polymer structure modification thanks to the specificity of enzymes used. Such enzymes can originate from all kinds of organisms, or even be modified in a desired way for novel attributes. Here we present a general strategy for expressing a microbial enzyme in aspen and targeting it to cell wall, using an example of fungal glucuronoyl esterase. We describe methods of vector cloning, plant transformation, transgenic line selection and multiplication, testing for the presence of enzymatic activity in different cell compartments, and finally the method of plant transferring from sterile culture to the greenhouse conditions.

Engineering of Bioenergy Crops: Dominant Genetic Approaches to Improve Polysaccharide Properties and Composition in Biomass

Large-scale, sustainable production of lignocellulosic bioenergy from biomass will depend on a variety of dedicated bioenergy crops. Despite their great genetic diversity, prospective bioenergy crops share many similarities in the polysaccharide composition of their cell walls, and the changes needed to optimize them for conversion are largely universal. Therefore, biomass modification strategies that do not depend on genetic background or require mutant varieties are extremely valuable. Due to their preferential fermentation and conversion by microorganisms downstream, the ideal bioenergy crop should contain a high proportion of C6-sugars in polysaccharides like cellulose, callose, galactan, and mixed-linkage glucans. In addition, the biomass should be reduced in inhibitors of fermentation like pentoses and acetate. Finally, the overall complexity of the plant cell wall should be modified to reduce its recalcitrance to enzymatic deconstruction in ways that do no compromise plant health or come at a yield penalty. This review will focus on progress in the use of a variety of genetically dominant strategies to reach these ideals. Due to the breadth and volume of research in the field of lignin bioengineering, this review will instead focus on approaches to improve polysaccharide component plant biomass. Carbohydrate content can be dramatically increased by transgenic overexpression of enzymes involved in cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis. Additionally, the recalcitrance of the cell wall can be reduced via the overexpression of native or non-native carbohydrate active enzymes like glycosyl hydrolases or carbohydrate esterases. Some research in this area has focused on engineering plants that accumulate cell wall-degrading enzymes that are sequestered to organelles or only active at very high temperatures. The rationale being that, in order to avoid potential negative effects of cell wall modification during plant growth, the enzymes could be activated post-harvest, and post-maturation of the cell wall. A potentially significant limitation of this approach is that at harvest, the cell wall is heavily lignified, making the substrates for these enzymes inaccessible and their activity ineffective. Therefore, this review will only include research employing enzymes that are at least partially active under the ambient conditions of plant growth and cell wall development.

Cell Wall Acetylation in Hybrid Aspen Affects Field Performance, Foliar Phenolic Composition and Resistance to Biological Stress Factors in a Construct-Dependent Fashion

The production of biofuels and "green" chemicals from the lignocellulose of fast-growing hardwood species is hampered by extensive acetylation of xylan. Different strategies have been implemented to reduce xylan acetylation, resulting in transgenic plants that show good growth in the greenhouse, improved saccharification and fermentation, but the field performance of such plants has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of reduced acetylation on field productivity and identify the best strategies for decreasing acetylation. Growth and biological stress data were evaluated for 18 hybrid aspen lines with 10-20% reductions in the cell wall acetyl content from a five year field experiment in Southern Sweden. The reduction in acetyl content was achieved either by suppressing the process of acetylation in the Golgi by reducing expression of REDUCED WALL ACETYLATION (RWA) genes, or by post-synthetic acetyl removal by fungal acetyl xylan esterases (AXEs) from two different families, CE1 and CE5, targeting them to cell walls. Transgene expression was regulated by either a constitutive promoter (35S) or a wood-specific promoter (WP). For the majority of transgenic lines, growth was either similar to that in WT and transgenic control (WP:GUS) plants, or slightly reduced. The slight reduction was observed in the AXE-expressing lines regulated by the 35S promoter, not those with the WP promoter which limits expression to cells developing secondary walls. Expressing AXEs regulated by the 35S promoter resulted in increased foliar arthropod chewing, and altered condensed tannins and salicinoid phenolic glucosides (SPGs) profiles. Greater growth inhibition was observed in the case of CE5 than with CE1 AXE, and it was associated with increased foliar necrosis and distinct SPG profiles, suggesting that CE5 AXE could be recognized by the pathogen-associated molecular pattern system. For each of three different constructs, there was a line with dwarfism and growth abnormalities, suggesting random genetic/epigenetic changes. This high frequency of dwarfism (17%) is suggestive of a link between acetyl metabolism and chromatin function. These data represent the first evaluation of acetyl-reduced plants from the field, indicating some possible pitfalls, and identifying the best strategies, when developing highly productive acetyl-reduced feedstocks.

Re-targeting of a plant defense protease by a cyst nematode effector

Plants mount defense responses during pathogen attacks, and robust host defense suppression by pathogen effector proteins is essential for infection success. 4E02 is an effector of the sugar beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. Arabidopsis thaliana lines expressing the effector-coding sequence showed altered expression levels of defense response genes, as well as higher susceptibility to both the biotroph H. schachtii and the necrotroph Botrytis cinerea, indicating a potential suppression of defenses by 4E02. Yeast two-hybrid analyses showed that 4E02 targets A. thaliana vacuolar papain-like cysteine protease (PLCP) 'Responsive to Dehydration 21A' (RD21A), which has been shown to function in the plant defense response. Activity-based protein profiling analyses documented that the in planta presence of 4E02 does not impede enzymatic activity of RD21A. Instead, 4E02 mediates a re-localization of this protease from the vacuole to the nucleus and cytoplasm, which is likely to prevent the protease from performing its defense function and at the same time, brings it in contact with novel substrates. Yeast two-hybrid analyses showed that RD21A interacts with multiple host proteins including enzymes involved in defense responses as well as carbohydrate metabolism. In support of a role in carbohydrate metabolism of RD21A after its effector-mediated re-localization, we observed cell wall compositional changes in 4E02 expressing A. thaliana lines. Collectively, our study shows that 4E02 removes RD21A from its defense-inducing pathway and repurposes this enzyme by targeting the active protease to different cell compartments.

Plant cell wall sugars: sweeteners for a bio-based economy

Global warming and the consequent climate change is one of the major environmental challenges we are facing today. The driving force behind the rise in temperature is our fossil-based economy, which releases massive amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emission, we need to scale down our dependency on fossil resources, implying that we need other sources for energy and chemicals to feed our economy. Here, plants have an important role to play; by means of photosynthesis, plants capture solar energy to split water and fix carbon derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide. A significant fraction of the fixed carbon ends up as polysaccharides in the plant cell wall. Fermentable sugars derived from cell wall polysaccharides form an ideal carbon source for the production of bio-platform molecules. However, a major limiting factor in the use of plant biomass as feedstock for the bio-based economy is the complexity of the plant cell wall and its recalcitrance towards deconstruction. To facilitate the release of fermentable sugars during downstream biomass processing, the composition and structure of the cell wall can be engineered. Different strategies to reduce cell wall recalcitrance will be described in this review. The ultimate goal is to obtain a tailor-made biomass, derived from plants with a cell wall optimized for particular industrial or agricultural applications, without affecting plant growth and development.

Comprehensive transcriptome analyses correlated with untargeted metabolome reveal differentially expressed pathways in response to cell wall alterations

This research provides new insights into plant response to cell wall perturbations through correlation of transcriptome and metabolome datasets obtained from transgenic plants expressing cell wall-modifying enzymes. Plants respond to changes in their cell walls in order to protect themselves from pathogens and other stresses. Cell wall modifications in Arabidopsis thaliana have profound effects on gene expression and defense response, but the cell signaling mechanisms underlying these responses are not well understood. Three transgenic Arabidopsis lines, two with reduced cell wall acetylation (AnAXE and AnRAE) and one with reduced feruloylation (AnFAE), were used in this study to investigate the plant responses to cell wall modifications. RNA-Seq in combination with untargeted metabolome was employed to assess differential gene expression and metabolite abundance. RNA-Seq results were correlated with metabolite abundances to determine the pathways involved in response to cell wall modifications introduced in each line. The resulting pathway enrichments revealed the deacetylation events in AnAXE and AnRAE plants induced similar responses, notably, upregulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis and changes in regulation of primary metabolic pathways that supply substrates to specialized metabolism, particularly those related to defense responses. In contrast, genes and metabolites of lipid biosynthetic pathways and peroxidases involved in lignin polymerization were downregulated in AnFAE plants. These results elucidate how primary metabolism responds to extracellular stimuli. Combining the transcriptomics and metabolomics datasets increased the power of pathway prediction, and demonstrated the complexity of pathways involved in cell wall-mediated signaling.

Cell growth and homeostasis are disrupted in arabidopsis rns2-2 mutants missing the main vacuolar RNase activity

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Enzymes belonging to the RNase T2 family are essential for normal rRNA turnover in eukaryotes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, this function is performed by RNS2. The null mutant rns2-2 has increased rRNA half-life and constitutive autophagy. The aim of this work was to determine the molecular changes that take place in the rns2-2 mutant that may lead to altered cellular homeostasis, manifested by the observed cellular phenotype.

METHODS

To determine the effect of defective rRNA turnover on cellular homeostasis, comparative transcriptome and metabolome analyses of 10-day-old wild-type and rns2-2 seedlings were used to identify molecular processes affected in the mutant. Bioinformatics analyses suggested additional phenotypes that were confirmed through direct plant size measurements and microscopy.

KEY RESULTS

Few genes were differentially expressed in the rns2-2 mutant, indicating that control of autophagy in this genotype is mainly achieved at the post-transcriptional level. Among differentially expressed genes, transcripts related to carbon flux processes, particularly the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), were identified. Metabolite analyses confirmed changes in the levels of PPP intermediates. Genes related to cell wall loosening were also differentially expressed in the mutant, and a decrease in monosaccharide components of cell wall hemicellulose were found. As a potential effect of weaker cell walls, rns2-2 plants are larger than wild-type controls, due to larger cells and increased water content. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also measured in rns2-2, and the constitutive autophagy phenotype was blocked by preventing ROS production via NADPH oxidase.

CONCLUSIONS

Lack of rRNA recycling in rns2-2 cells triggers a change in carbon flux, which is redirected through the PPP to produce ribose-5-phosphate for de novo nucleoside synthesis. rRNA or ribosome turnover is thus essential for cellular homeostasis, probably through maintenance of nucleoside levels as part of the salvage pathway.

Transgenic expression of fungal accessory hemicellulases in Arabidopsis thaliana triggers transcriptional patterns related to biotic stress and defense response

The plant cell wall is an abundant and renewable resource for lignocellulosic applications such as the production of biofuel. Due to structural and compositional complexities, the plant cell wall is, however, recalcitrant to hydrolysis and extraction of platform sugars. A cell wall engineering strategy to reduce this recalcitrance makes use of microbial cell wall modifying enzymes that are expressed directly in plants themselves. Previously, we constructed transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana constitutively expressing the fungal hemicellulases: Phanerochaete carnosa glucurnoyl esterase (PcGCE) and Aspergillus nidulans α-arabinofuranosidase (AnAF54). While the PcGCE lines demonstrated improved xylan extractability, they also displayed chlorotic leaves leading to the hypothesis that expression of such enzymes in planta resulted in plant stress. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of transgenic expression of the aforementioned microbial hemicellulases in planta on the host arabidopsis. More specifically, we investigated transcriptome profiles by short read high throughput sequencing (RNAseq) from developmentally distinct parts of the plant stem. When compared to non-transformed wild-type plants, a subset of genes was identified that showed differential transcript abundance in all transgenic lines and tissues investigated. Intriguingly, this core set of genes was significantly enriched for those involved in plant defense and biotic stress responses. While stress and defense-related genes showed increased transcript abundance in the transgenic plants regardless of tissue or genotype, genes involved in photosynthesis (light harvesting) were decreased in their transcript abundance potentially reflecting wide-spread effects of heterologous microbial transgene expression and the maintenance of plant homeostasis. Additionally, an increase in transcript abundance for genes involved in salicylic acid signaling further substantiates our finding that transgenic expression of microbial cell wall modifying enzymes induces transcriptome responses similar to those observed in defense responses.

Expression of a fungal ferulic acid esterase in suspension cultures of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) decreases cell wall feruloylation and increases rates of cell wall digestion

In the cell walls of grasses ferulic acid is esterified to arabinosyl residues in arabinoxylans that can then undergo oxidative coupling reactions to form ferulate dehydrodimers, trimers and oligomers which function to cross-link cell-wall polysaccharides, limiting cell wall degradability. Fungal ferulic acid esterase can release both esterified monomeric and dimeric ferulic acids from these cell wall arabinoxylans making the cell wall more susceptible to further enzymatic attack and increasing cell wall degradability. Non-embryogenic cell suspension cultures of Festuca arundinacea expressing a Aspergillus niger ferulic acid esterase (faeA) targeted to either the apoplast, or endoplasmic reticulum under the control of a constitutive actin promoter, or to the vacuole under the control of a soybean heat shock promoter, were established and FAE activity determined in the cells and medium during a growth cycle. Analysis of the ester-linked ferulates of the cell walls showed that all three transformed cell lines had both reduced ferulate levels and increased levels of xylanase mediated release of wall phenolics on autodigestion as well as increased rates of cell wall digestion in a simulated rumen environment, when compared to control non-transformed cells.

Enquiry into the Topology of Plasma Membrane-Localized PIN Auxin Transport Components

Auxin directs plant ontogenesis via differential accumulation within tissues depending largely on the activity of PIN proteins that mediate auxin efflux from cells and its directional cell-to-cell transport. Regardless of the developmental importance of PINs, the structure of these transporters is poorly characterized. Here, we present experimental data concerning protein topology of plasma membrane-localized PINs. Utilizing approaches based on pH-dependent quenching of fluorescent reporters combined with immunolocalization techniques, we mapped the membrane topology of PINs and further cross-validated our results using available topology modeling software. We delineated the topology of PIN1 with two transmembrane (TM) bundles of five α-helices linked by a large intracellular loop and a C-terminus positioned outside the cytoplasm. Using constraints derived from our experimental data, we also provide an updated position of helical regions generating a verisimilitude model of PIN1. Since the canonical long PINs show a high degree of conservation in TM domains and auxin transport capacity has been demonstrated for Arabidopsis representatives of this group, this empirically enhanced topological model of PIN1 will be an important starting point for further studies on PIN structure-function relationships. In addition, we have established protocols that can be used to probe the topology of other plasma membrane proteins in plants.

Post-Synthetic Defucosylation of AGP by Aspergillus nidulans α-1,2-Fucosidase Expressed in Arabidopsis Apoplast Induces Compensatory Upregulation of α-1,2-Fucosyltransferases

Cell walls are essential components of plant cells which perform a variety of important functions for the different cell types, tissues and organs of a plant. Besides mechanical function providing cell shape, cell walls participate in intercellular communication, defense during plant-microbe interactions, and plant growth. The plant cell wall consists predominantly of polysaccharides with the addition of structural glycoproteins, phenolic esters, minerals, lignin, and associated enzymes. Alterations in the cell wall composition created through either changes in biosynthesis of specific constituents or their post-synthetic modifications in the apoplast compromise cell wall integrity and frequently induce plant compensatory responses as a result of these alterations. Here we report that post-synthetic removal of fucose residues specifically from arabinogalactan proteins in the Arabidopsis plant cell wall induces differential expression of fucosyltransferases and leads to the root and hypocotyl elongation changes. These results demonstrate that the post-synthetic modification of cell wall components presents a valuable approach to investigate the potential signaling pathways induced during plant responses to such modifications that usually occur during plant development and stress responses.

Strategies for the production of cell wall-deconstructing enzymes in lignocellulosic biomass and their utilization for biofuel production

Microbial cell wall-deconstructing enzymes are widely used in the food, wine, pulp and paper, textile, and detergent industries and will be heavily utilized by cellulosic biorefineries in the production of fuels and chemicals. Due to their ability to use freely available solar energy, genetically engineered bioenergy crops provide an attractive alternative to microbial bioreactors for the production of cell wall-deconstructing enzymes. This review article summarizes the efforts made within the last decade on the production of cell wall-deconstructing enzymes in planta for use in the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. A number of strategies have been employed to increase enzyme yields and limit negative impacts on plant growth and development including targeting heterologous enzymes into specific subcellular compartments using signal peptides, using tissue-specific or inducible promoters to limit the expression of enzymes to certain portions of the plant or certain times, and fusion of amplification sequences upstream of the coding region to enhance expression. We also summarize methods that have been used to access and maintain activity of plant-generated enzymes when used in conjunction with thermochemical pretreatments for the production of lignocellulosic biofuels.

Impaired Chloroplast Biogenesis in Immutans, an Arabidopsis Variegation Mutant, Modifies Developmental Programming, Cell Wall Composition and Resistance to Pseudomonas syringae

The immutans (im) variegation mutation of Arabidopsis has green- and white- sectored leaves due to action of a nuclear recessive gene. IM codes for PTOX, a plastoquinol oxidase in plastid membranes. Previous studies have revealed that the green and white sectors develop into sources (green tissues) and sinks (white tissues) early in leaf development. In this report we focus on white sectors, and show that their transformation into effective sinks involves a sharp reduction in plastid number and size. Despite these reductions, cells in the white sectors have near-normal amounts of plastid RNA and protein, and surprisingly, a marked amplification of chloroplast DNA. The maintenance of protein synthesis capacity in the white sectors might poise plastids for their development into other plastid types. The green and white im sectors have different cell wall compositions: whereas cell walls in the green sectors resemble those in wild type, cell walls in the white sectors have reduced lignin and cellulose microfibrils, as well as alterations in galactomannans and the decoration of xyloglucan. These changes promote susceptibility to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Enhanced susceptibility can also be explained by repressed expression of some, but not all, defense genes. We suggest that differences in morphology, physiology and biochemistry between the green and white sectors is caused by a reprogramming of leaf development that is coordinated, in part, by mechanisms of retrograde (plastid-to-nucleus) signaling, perhaps mediated by ROS. We conclude that variegation mutants offer a novel system to study leaf developmental programming, cell wall metabolism and host-pathogen interactions.

Friends or foes? Emerging insights from fungal interactions with plants

Fungi interact with plants in various ways, with each interaction giving rise to different alterations in both partners. While fungal pathogens have detrimental effects on plant physiology, mutualistic fungi augment host defence responses to pathogens and/or improve plant nutrient uptake. Tropic growth towards plant roots or stomata, mediated by chemical and topographical signals, has been described for several fungi, with evidence of species-specific signals and sensing mechanisms. Fungal partners secrete bioactive molecules such as small peptide effectors, enzymes and secondary metabolites which facilitate colonization and contribute to both symbiotic and pathogenic relationships. There has been tremendous advancement in fungal molecular biology, omics sciences and microscopy in recent years, opening up new possibilities for the identification of key molecular mechanisms in plant-fungal interactions, the power of which is often borne out in their combination. Our fragmentary knowledge on the interactions between plants and fungi must be made whole to understand the potential of fungi in preventing plant diseases, improving plant productivity and understanding ecosystem stability. Here, we review innovative methods and the associated new insights into plant-fungal interactions.

Unlocking the potential of lignocellulosic biomass through plant science

The aim of producing sustainable liquid biofuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass remains high on the sustainability agenda, but is challenged by the costs of producing fermentable sugars from these materials. Sugars from plant biomass can be fermented to alcohols or even alkanes, creating a liquid fuel in which carbon released on combustion is balanced by its photosynthetic capture. Large amounts of sugar are present in the woody, nonfood parts of crops and could be used for fuel production without compromising global food security. However, the sugar in woody biomass is locked up in the complex and recalcitrant lignocellulosic plant cell wall, making it difficult and expensive to extract. In this paper, we review what is known about the major polymeric components of woody plant biomass, with an emphasis on the molecular interactions that contribute to its recalcitrance to enzymatic digestion. In addition, we review the extensive research that has been carried out in order to understand and reduce lignocellulose recalcitrance and enable more cost-effective production of fuel from woody plant biomass.

Decreased Polysaccharide Feruloylation Compromises Plant Cell Wall Integrity and Increases Susceptibility to Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens

The complexity of cell wall composition and structure determines the strength, flexibility, and function of the primary cell wall in plants. However, the contribution of the various components to cell wall integrity (CWI) and function remains unclear. Modifications of cell wall composition can induce plant responses known as CWI control. In this study, we used transgenic expression of the fungal feruloyl esterase AnFAE to examine the effect of post-synthetic modification of Arabidopsis and Brachypodium cell walls. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing AnFAE showed a significant reduction of monomeric ferulic acid, decreased amounts of wall-associated extensins, and increased susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, compared with wild type. Transgenic Brachypodium showed reductions in monomeric and dimeric ferulic acids and increased susceptibility to Bipolaris sorokiniana. Upon infection, transgenic Arabidopsis and Brachypodium plants also showed increased expression of several defense-related genes compared with wild type. These results demonstrate a role, in both monocot and dicot plants, of polysaccharide feruloylation in plant CWI, which contributes to plant resistance to necrotrophic pathogens.

Expression of fungal acetyl xylan esterase in Arabidopsis thaliana improves saccharification of stem lignocellulose

Cell wall hemicelluloses and pectins are O-acetylated at specific positions, but the significance of these substitutions is poorly understood. Using a transgenic approach, we investigated how reducing the extent of O-acetylation in xylan affects cell wall chemistry, plant performance and the recalcitrance of lignocellulose to saccharification. The Aspergillus niger acetyl xylan esterase AnAXE1 was expressed in Arabidopsis under the control of either the constitutively expressed 35S CAMV promoter or a woody-tissue-specific GT43B aspen promoter, and the protein was targeted to the apoplast by its native signal peptide, resulting in elevated acetyl esterase activity in soluble and wall-bound protein extracts and reduced xylan acetylation. No significant alterations in cell wall composition were observed in the transgenic lines, but their xylans were more easily digested by a β-1,4-endoxylanase, and more readily extracted by hot water, acids or alkali. Enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose after hot water and alkali pretreatments produced up to 20% more reducing sugars in several lines. Fermentation by Trametes versicolor of tissue hydrolysates from the line with a 30% reduction in acetyl content yielded ~70% more ethanol compared with wild type. Plants expressing 35S:AnAXE1 and pGT43B:AnAXE1 developed normally and showed increased resistance to the biotrophic pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, probably due to constitutive activation of defence pathways. However, unintended changes in xyloglucan and pectin acetylation were only observed in 35S:AnAXE1-expressing plants. This study demonstrates that postsynthetic xylan deacetylation in woody tissues is a promising strategy for optimizing lignocellulosic biomass for biofuel production.

Functional co-expression of a fungal ferulic acid esterase and a β-1,4 endoxylanase in Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue) modifies post-harvest cell wall deconstruction

Improved post-harvest cell wall deconstruction of tall fescue leaves has been demonstrated by in-planta co-expression of a constitutively expressed ferulic acid esterase together with a senescence-induced β-1,4 endoxylanase. Tall fescue plants (Festuca arundinacea) constitutively expressing vacuole- or apoplast-targeted ferulic acid esterase from Aspergillus niger were retransformed with a senescence-induced and apoplast-targeted β-1,4 endo-xylanase from Trichoderma reesei. Enzyme activities in co-expressing plants stabilized after repeated vegetative propagation, with xylanase activity in senescent leaves increasing and ferulic acid esterase activity decreasing after tillering. Plants co-expressing both enzymes in the apoplast, with the lowest levels of ferulate monomers and dimers and the lowest levels of cell wall arabinoxylans, released ten times more cell wall hydroxycinnamic acids and five times more arabinoxylan from the cell wall on autodigestion compared to expression of ferulic acid esterase or xylanase alone. These plants also showed a 31 % increase in cellulase-mediated release of reducing sugars, a 5 % point increase in in vitro dry matter digestibility and a 23 % increase in acetyl bromide-soluble lignin. However, plant growth was adversely affected by expressing FAE in the apoplast, giving plants with narrower shorted leaves, and a 71 % decrease in biomass.

Active fungal GH115 α-glucuronidase produced in Arabidopsis thaliana affects only the UX1-reactive glucuronate decorations on native glucuronoxylans

Background

Expressing microbial polysaccharide-modifying enzymes in plants is an attractive approach to custom tailor plant lignocellulose and to study the importance of wall structures to plant development. Expression of α-glucuronidases in plants to modify the structures of glucuronoxylans has not been yet attempted. Glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 115 α-glucuronidases cleave the internal α-D-(4-O-methyl)glucopyranosyluronic acid ((Me)GlcA) from xylans or xylooligosaccharides. In this work, a GH115 α-glucuronidase from Schizophyllum commune, ScAGU115, was expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and targeted to apoplast. The transgene effects on native xylans’ structures, plant development, and lignocellulose saccharification were evaluated and compared to those of knocked out glucuronyltransferases AtGUX1 and AtGUX2.

Results

The ScAGU115 extracted from cell walls of Arabidopsis was active on the internally substituted aldopentaouronic acid (XUXX). The transgenic plants did not show any change in growth or in lignocellulose saccharification. The cell wall (Me)GlcA and other non-cellulosic sugars, as well as the lignin content, remained unchanged. In contrast, the gux1gux2 double mutant showed a 70% decrease in (Me)GlcA to xylose molar ratio, and, interestingly, a 60% increase in the xylose content. Whereas ScAGU115-expressing plants exhibited a decreased signal in native secondary walls from the monoclonal antibody UX1 that recognizes (Me)GlcA on non-acetylated xylan, the signal was not affected after wall deacetylation. In contrast, gux1gux2 mutant was lacking UX1 signals in both native and deacetylated cell walls. This indicates that acetyl substitution on the xylopyranosyl residue carrying (Me)GlcA or on the neighboring xylopyranosyl residues may restrict post-synthetic modification of xylans by ScAGU115 in planta.

Conclusions

Active GH115 α-glucuronidase has been produced for the first time in plants. The cell wall–targeted ScAGU115 was shown to affect those glucuronate substitutions of xylan, which are accessible to UX1 antibody and constitute a small fraction in Arabidopsis, whereas majority of (Me)GlcA substitutions were resistant, most likely due to the shielding by acetyl groups. Plants expressing ScAGU115 did not show any defects under laboratory conditions indicating that the UX1 epitope of xylan is not essential under these conditions. Moreover the removal of the UX1 xylan epitope does not affect lignocellulose saccharification.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12896-015-0154-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Expression of a fungal glucuronoyl esterase in Populus: effects on wood properties and saccharification efficiency

The secondary walls of angiosperms contain large amounts of glucuronoxylan that is thought to be covalently linked to lignin via ester bonds between 4-O-methyl-α-D-glucuronic acid (4-O-Me-GlcA) moieties in glucuronoxylan and alcohol groups in lignin. This linkage is proposed to be hydrolysed by glucuronoyl esterases (GCEs) secreted by wood-degrading fungi. We report effects of overexpression of a GCE from the white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete carnosa, PcGCE, in hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. x tremuloides Michx.) on the wood composition and the saccharification efficiency. The recombinant enzyme, which was targeted to the plant cell wall using the signal peptide from hybrid aspen cellulase PttCel9B3, was constitutively expressed resulting in the appearance of GCE activity in protein extracts from developing wood. Diffuse reflectance FT-IR spectroscopy and pyrolysis-GC/MS analyses showed significant alternation in wood chemistry of transgenic plants including an increase in lignin content and S/G ratio, and a decrease in carbohydrate content. Sequential wood extractions confirmed a massive (+43%) increase of Klason lignin, which was accompanied by a ca. 5% decrease in cellulose, and ca. 20% decrease in wood extractives. Analysis of the monosaccharide composition using methanolysis showed a reduction of 4-O-Me-GlcA content without a change in Xyl contents in transgenic lines, suggesting that the covalent links between 4-O-Me-GlcA moieties and lignin protect these moieties from degradation. Enzymatic saccharification without pretreatment resulted in significant decreases of the yields of Gal, Glc, Xyl and Man in transgenic lines, consistent with their increased recalcitrance caused by the increased lignin content. In contrast, the enzymatic saccharification after acid pretreatment resulted in Glc yields similar to wild-type despite of their lower cellulose content. These data indicate that whereas PcGCE expression in hybrid aspen increases lignin deposition, the inhibitory effects of lignin are efficiently removed during acid pretreatment, and the extent of wood cellulose conversion during hydrolysis after acid pretreatment is improved in the transgenic lines possible due to reduced cell wall cross-links between cell wall biopolymers by PcGCE.

Cell wall modification in tobacco by differential targeting of recombinant endoglucanase from Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND

The development of transgenic plants as a production platform for biomass-degrading enzymes is a promising tool for an economically feasible allocation of enzymes processing lignocellulose. Previous research has already identified a major limitation of in planta production such as interference with the structure and integrity of the plant cell wall resulting in a negative influence on plant growth and development.

RESULTS

Here, we describe the in planta expression of endoglucanase TrCel5A from the mesophilic fungus Trichoderma reesei with differential intracellular targeting and evaluate its impact on the tobacco cell wall composition. Targeting of the enzyme to the apoplast leads to distinct changes in cell polysaccharides such as glucose level in the matrix polysaccharides (MPS). These effects are combined with severe changes in plant development. Retention of TrCel5A in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) could avoid visible effects on plant growth under the chosen conditions, but exhibits changes in the composition of the MPS.

CONCLUSIONS

These results give new insights into the complex interaction of heterologous cellulase expression with cell wall development and it outlines novel promising strategies to engineer plant cell walls for improved biomass processing.

Chloroplast molecular farming: efficient production of a thermostable xylanase by Nicotiana tabacum plants and long-term conservation of the recombinant enzyme

The high cost of recombinant enzymes for the production of biofuel from ligno-cellulosic biomass is a crucial factor affecting the economic sustainability of the process. The use of plants as biofactories for the production of the suitable recombinant enzymes might be an alternative to microbial fermentation. In the case of enzyme accumulation in chloroplasts, it is fundamental to focus on the issue of full photosynthetic efficiency of transplastomic plants in the field where they might be exposed to abiotic stress such as high light intensity and high temperature. Xylanases (EC 3.2.1.8), a group of enzymes that hydrolyse linear polysaccharides of beta-1,4-xylan into xylose, find an application in the biofuel industry favouring biomass saccharification along with other cell-wall degrading enzymes. In the present study, we analysed how a high level of accumulation of a thermostable xylanase in tobacco chloroplasts does not impact on photosynthetic performance of transplastomic plants grown outdoors. The recombinant enzyme was found to be stable during plant development, ex planta and after long-term storage.

Altering the cell wall and its impact on plant disease: from forage to bioenergy

The individual sugars found within the major classes of plant cell wall polymers are dietary components of herbivores and are targeted for release in industrial processes for fermentation to liquid biofuels. With a growing understanding of the biosynthesis of the complex cell wall polymers, genetic modification strategies are being developed to target the cell wall to improve the digestibility of forage crops and to render lignocellulose less recalcitrant for bioprocessing. This raises concerns as to whether altering cell wall properties to improve biomass processing traits may inadvertently make plants more susceptible to diseases and pests. Here, we review the impacts of cell wall modification on plant defense, as assessed from studies in model plants utilizing mutants or transgenic modification and in crop plants specifically engineered for improved biomass or bioenergy traits. Such studies reveal that cell wall modifications can indeed have unintended impacts on plant defense, but these are not always negative.

Are designer plant cell walls a realistic aspiration or will the plasticity of the plant's metabolism win out?

Plants have been redesigned by humans since the advent of modern agriculture some 10000 years ago, to provide ever increasing benefits to society. The phenomenal success of the green revolution in converting biomass from vegetative tissues into grain yield has sustained a growing population. At the dawn of the 21st century the need to further optimise plant biomass (largely plant walls) for a sustainable future is increasingly evident as our supply of fossil fuels is finite and the quality of our crop-based foods (functional foods; also determined by the composition of walls) are critical to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our capacity to engineer 'designer walls' suited to particular purposes is challenging plant breeders and biotechnologists in unprecedented ways. In this review we provide an overview of the critical steps in the assembly and remodelling of walls, the success (or otherwise) of such approaches and highlight another complex network, the cell surface, as a cell wall integrity (CWI) sensor that exerts control over wall composition and will need to be considered in any future modification of walls for agro-industrial purposes.

Arabidopsis and Brachypodium distachyon transgenic plants expressing Aspergillus nidulans acetylesterases have decreased degree of polysaccharide acetylation and increased resistance to pathogens

The plant cell wall has many significant structural and physiological roles, but the contributions of the various components to these roles remain unclear. Modification of cell wall properties can affect key agronomic traits such as disease resistance and plant growth. The plant cell wall is composed of diverse polysaccharides often decorated with methyl, acetyl, and feruloyl groups linked to the sugar subunits. In this study, we examined the effect of perturbing cell wall acetylation by making transgenic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and Brachypodium (Brachypodium distachyon) plants expressing hemicellulose- and pectin-specific fungal acetylesterases. All transgenic plants carried highly expressed active Aspergillus nidulans acetylesterases localized to the apoplast and had significant reduction of cell wall acetylation compared with wild-type plants. Partial deacetylation of polysaccharides caused compensatory up-regulation of three known acetyltransferases and increased polysaccharide accessibility to glycosyl hydrolases. Transgenic plants showed increased resistance to the fungal pathogens Botrytis cinerea and Bipolaris sorokiniana but not to the bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas syringae and Xanthomonas oryzae. These results demonstrate a role, in both monocot and dicot plants, of hemicellulose and pectin acetylation in plant defense against fungal pathogens.

Constitutive expression of a fungal glucuronoyl esterase in Arabidopsis reveals altered cell wall composition and structure

A family 15 carbohydrate esterase (CE15) from the white-rot basidiomycete, Phanerochaete carnosa (PcGCE), was transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 and was expressed from the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Like other CE15 enzymes, PcGCE hydrolyzed methyl-4-O-methyl-d-glucopyranuronate and could target ester linkages that contribute to lignin-carbohydrate complexes that form in plant cell walls. Three independently transformed Arabidopsis lines were evaluated in terms of nine morphometric parameters, total sugar and lignin composition, cell wall anatomy, enzymatic saccharification and xylan extractability. The transgenic lines consistently displayed a leaf-yellowing phenotype, as well as reduced glucose and xylose content by as much as 30% and 35%, respectively. Histological analysis revealed 50% reduction in cell wall thickness in the interfascicular fibres of transgenic plants, and FT-IR microspectroscopy of interfascicular fibre walls indicated reduction in lignin cross-linking in plants overexpressing PcGCE. Notably, these characteristics could be correlated with improved xylose recovery in transgenic plants, up to 15%. The current analysis represents the first example whereby a fungal glucuronoyl esterase is expressed in Arabidopsis and shows that the promotion of glucuronoyl esterase activity in plants can alter the extent of intermolecular cross-linking within plant cell walls.

An efficient method for transient gene expression in monocots applied to modify the Brachypodium distachyon cell wall

BACKGROUND

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is widely used to produce insertions into plant genomes. There are a number of well-developed Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods for dicotyledonous plants, but there are few for monocotyledonous plants.

METHODS

Three hydrolase genes were transiently expressed in Brachypodium distachyon plants using specially designed vectors that express the gene product of interest and target it to the plant cell wall. Expression of functional hydrolases in genotyped plants was confirmed using western blotting, activity assays, cell wall compositional analysis and digestibility tests.

KEY RESULTS

An efficient, new, Agrobacterium-mediated approach was developed for transient gene expression in the grass B. distachyon, using co-cultivation of mature seeds with bacterial cells. This method allows transformed tissues to be obtained rapidly, within 3-4 weeks after co-cultivation. Also, the plants carried transgenic tissue and maintained transgenic protein expression throughout plant maturation. The efficiency of transformation was estimated at around 5 % of initially co-cultivated seeds. Application of this approach to express three Aspergillus nidulans hydrolases in the Brachypodium cell wall successfully confirmed its utility and resulted in the expected expression of active microbial proteins and alterations of cell wall composition. Cell wall modifications caused by expression of A. nidulans α-arabinofuranosidase and α-galactosidase increased the biodegradability of plant biomass.

CONCLUSIONS

This newly developed approach is a quick and efficient technique for expressing genes of interest in Brachypodium plants, which express the gene product throughout development. In the future, this could be used for broad functional genomics studies of monocots and for biotechnological applications, such as plant biomass modification for biofuel production.