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The poplar MYB master switches bind to the SMRE site and activate the secondary wall biosynthetic program during wood formation.

ABSTRACT: Wood is mainly composed of secondary walls, which constitute the most abundant stored carbon produced by vascular plants. Understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling secondary wall deposition during wood formation is not only an important issue in plant biology but also critical for providing molecular tools to custom-design wood composition suited for diverse end uses. Past molecular and genetic studies have revealed a transcriptional network encompassing a group of wood-associated NAC and MYB transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of the secondary wall biosynthetic program during wood formation in poplar trees. Here, we report the functional characterization of poplar orthologs of MYB46 and MYB83 that are known to be master switches of secondary wall biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. In addition to the two previously-described PtrMYB3 and PtrMYB20, two other MYBs, PtrMYB2 and PtrMYB21, were shown to be MYB46/MYB83 orthologs by complementation and overexpression studies in Arabidopsis. The functional roles of these PtrMYBs in regulating secondary wall biosynthesis were further demonstrated in transgenic poplar plants showing an ectopic deposition of secondary walls in PtrMYB overexpressors and a reduction of secondary wall thickening in their dominant repressors. Furthermore, PtrMYB2/3/20/21 together with two other tree MYBs, the Eucalyptus EgMYB2 and the pine PtMYB4, were shown to differentially bind to and activate the eight variants of the 7-bp SMRE consensus sequence, composed of ACC(A/T)A(A/C)(T/C). Together, our results indicate that the tree MYBs, PtrMYB2/3/20/21, EgMYB2 and PtMYB4, are master transcriptional switches that activate the SMRE sites in the promoters of target genes and thereby regulate secondary wall biosynthesis during wood formation.

SUBMITTER: Zhong R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3726746 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The poplar MYB master switches bind to the SMRE site and activate the secondary wall biosynthetic program during wood formation.

Zhong Ruiqin R McCarthy Ryan L RL Haghighat Marziyeh M Ye Zheng-Hua ZH

PloS one 20130729 7

Wood is mainly composed of secondary walls, which constitute the most abundant stored carbon produced by vascular plants. Understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling secondary wall deposition during wood formation is not only an important issue in plant biology but also critical for providing molecular tools to custom-design wood composition suited for diverse end uses. Past molecular and genetic studies have revealed a transcriptional network encompassing a group of wood-associated NAC a ...[more]

PMID: 23922694

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Project description:BACKGROUND: R2R3 MYB proteins constitute one of the largest plant transcription factor clades and regulate diverse plant-specific processes. Several R2R3 MYB proteins act as regulators of secondary cell wall (SCW) biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana (At), a dicotyledenous plant. Relatively few studies have examined SCW R2R3 MYB function in grasses, which may have diverged from dicots in terms of SCW regulatory mechanisms, as they have in cell wall composition and patterning. Understanding cell wall regulation is especially important for improving lignocellulosic bioenergy crops, such as switchgrass. RESULTS: Here, we describe the results of applying phylogenic, OrthoMCL, and sequence identity analyses to classify the R2R3 MYB family proteins from the annotated proteomes of Arabidposis, poplar, rice, maize and the initial genome (v0.0) and translated transcriptome of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). We find that the R2R3 MYB proteins of the five species fall into 48 subgroups, including three dicot-specific, six grass-specific, and two panicoid grass-expanded subgroups. We observe four classes of phylogenetic relationships within the subgroups of known SCW-regulating MYB proteins between Arabidopsis and rice, ranging from likely one-to-one orthology (for AtMYB26, AtMYB103, AtMYB69) to no homologs identifiable (for AtMYB75). Microarray data for putative switchgrass SCW MYBs indicate that many maintain similar expression patterns with the Arabidopsis SCW regulators. However, some of the switchgrass-expanded candidate SCW MYBs exhibit differences in gene expression patterns among paralogs, consistent with subfunctionalization. Furthermore, some switchgrass representatives of grass-expanded clades have gene expression patterns consistent with regulating SCW development. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that no single comparative genomics tool is able to provide a complete picture of the R2R3 MYB protein family without leaving ambiguities, and establishing likely false-negative and -positive relationships, but that used together a relatively clear view emerges. Generally, we find that most R2R3 MYBs that regulate SCW in Arabidopsis are likely conserved in the grasses. This comparative analysis of the R2R3 MYB family will facilitate transfer of understanding of regulatory mechanisms among species and enable control of SCW biosynthesis in switchgrass toward improving its biomass quality.

Project description:Osmotin-like proteins (OLPs) mediate defenses against abiotic and biotic stresses and fungal pathogens in plants. However, no OLPs have been functionally elucidated in poplar. Here, we report an osmotin-like protein designated PdOLP1 from Populus deltoides (Marsh.). Expression analysis showed that PdOLP1 transcripts were mainly present in immature xylem and immature phloem during vascular tissue development in P. deltoides. We conducted phenotypic, anatomical, and molecular analyses of PdOLP1-overexpressing lines and the PdOLP1-downregulated hybrid poplar 84K (Populus alba × Populus glandulosa) (Hybrid poplar 84K PagOLP1, PagOLP2, PagOLP3 and PagOLP4 are highly homologous to PdOLP1, and are downregulated in PdOLP1-downregulated hybrid poplar 84K). The overexpression of PdOLP1 led to a reduction in the radial width and cell layer number in the xylem and phloem zones, in expression of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis, and in the fibers and vessels of xylem cell walls in the overexpressing lines. Additionally, the xylem vessels and fibers of PdOLP1-downregulated poplar exhibited increased secondary cell wall thickness. Elevated expression of secondary wall biosynthetic genes was accompanied by increases in lignin content, dry weight biomass, and carbon storage in PdOLP1-downregulated lines. A PdOLP1 coexpression network was constructed and showed that PdOLP1 was coexpressed with a large number of genes involved in secondary cell wall biosynthesis and wood development in poplar. Moreover, based on transcriptional activation assays, PtobZIP5 and PtobHLH7 activated the PdOLP1 promoter, whereas PtoBLH8 and PtoWRKY40 repressed it. A yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay confirmed interaction of PtoBLH8, PtoMYB3, and PtoWRKY40 with the PdOLP1 promoter in vivo. Together, our results suggest that PdOLP1 is a negative regulator of secondary wall biosynthesis and may be valuable for manipulating secondary cell wall deposition to improve carbon fixation efficiency in tree species.

Dataset Information

The poplar MYB master switches bind to the SMRE site and activate the secondary wall biosynthetic program during wood formation.

Publications

The poplar MYB master switches bind to the SMRE site and activate the secondary wall biosynthetic program during wood formation.

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