Expression of Gene Encoding Endo-1,4-β-glucanase in Suspension-cultured Poplar (Poplus alba L.) Cells†

Cell suspension cultures of Populus tremula x P. tremuloides exhibit a high level of cellulose synthase gene expression that coincides with increased in vitro cellulose synthase activity

Compared to wood, cell suspension cultures provide convenient model systems to study many different cellular processes in plants. Here we have established cell suspension cultures of Populus tremula L. x P. tremuloides Michx. and characterized them by determining the enzymatic activities and/or mRNA expression levels of selected cell wall-specific proteins at the different stages of growth. While enzymes and proteins typically associated with primary cell wall synthesis and expansion were detected in the exponential growth phase of the cultures, the late stationary phase showed high expression of the secondary-cell-wall-associated cellulose synthase genes. Interestingly, detergent extracts of membranes from aging cell suspension cultures exhibited high levels of in vitro cellulose synthesis. The estimated ratio of cellulose to callose was as high as 50 : 50, as opposed to the ratio of 30 : 70 so far achieved with membrane preparations extracted from other systems. The increased cellulose synthase activity was also evidenced by higher levels of Calcofluor white binding in the cell material from the stationary-phase cultures. The ease of handling cell suspension cultures and the improved capacity for in vitro cellulose synthesis suggest that these cultures offer a new basis for studying the mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis.

A fungal endoglucanase with plant cell wall extension activity

We have identified a wall hydrolytic enzyme from Trichoderma reesei with potent ability to induce extension of heat-inactivated type I cell walls. It is a small (23-kD) endo-1,4-beta-glucanase (Cel12A) belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 12. Extension of heat-inactivated walls from cucumber (Cucumis sativus cv Burpee Pickler) hypocotyls was induced by Cel12A after a distinct lag time and was accompanied by a large increase in wall plasticity and elasticity. Cel12A also increased the rate of stress relaxation of isolated walls at very short times (<200 ms; equivalent to reducing t(0), a parameter that estimates the minimum relaxation time). Similar changes in wall plasticity and elasticity were observed in wheat (Triticum aestivum cv Pennmore Winter) coleoptile (type II) walls, which showed only a negligible extension in response to Cel12A treatment. Thus, Cel12A modifies both type I and II walls, but substantial extension is found only in type I walls. Cel12A has strong endo-glucanase activity against xyloglucan and (1-->3,1-->4)-beta-glucan, but did not exhibit endo-xylanase, endo-mannase, or endo-galactanase activities. In terms of kinetics of action and effects on wall rheology, wall loosening by Cel12A differs qualitatively from the action by expansins, which induce wall extension by a non-hydrolytic polymer creep mechanism. The action by Cel12A mimics some of the changes in wall rheology found after auxin-induced growth. The strategy used here to identify Cel12A could be used to identify analogous plant enzymes that cause auxin-induced changes in cell wall rheology.