Dataset Information

Structural features of reconstituted wheat wax films.

ABSTRACT: Cuticular waxes are essential for the well-being of all plants, from controlling the transport of water and nutrients across the plant surface to protecting them against external environmental attacks. Despite their significance, our current understanding regarding the structure and function of the wax film is limited. In this work, we have formed representative reconstituted wax film models of controlled thicknesses that facilitated an ex vivo study of plant cuticular wax film properties by neutron reflection (NR). Triticum aestivum L. (wheat) waxes were extracted from two different wheat straw samples, using two distinct extraction methods. Waxes extracted from harvested field-grown wheat straw using supercritical CO2 are compared with waxes extracted from laboratory-grown wheat straw via wax dissolution by chloroform rinsing. Wax films were produced by spin-coating the two extracts onto silicon substrates. Atomic force microscopy and cryo-scanning electron microscopy imaging revealed that the two reconstituted wax film models are ultrathin and porous with characteristic nanoscale extrusions on the outer surface, mimicking the structure of epicuticular waxes found upon adaxial wheat leaf surfaces. On the basis of solid-liquid and solid-air NR and ellipsometric measurements, these wax films could be modelled into two representative layers, with the diffuse underlying layer fitted with thicknesses ranging from approximately 65 to 70 Å, whereas the surface extrusion region reached heights exceeding 200 Å. Moisture-controlled NR measurements indicated that water penetrated extensively into the wax films measured under saturated humidity and under water, causing them to hydrate and swell significantly. These studies have thus provided a useful structural basis that underlies the function of the epicuticular waxes in controlling the water transport of crops.

SUBMITTER: Pambou E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4971226 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Structural features of reconstituted wheat wax films.

Pambou Elias E Li Zongyi Z Campana Mario M Hughes Arwel A Clifton Luke L Gutfreund Philipp P Foundling Jill J Bell Gordon G Lu Jian R JR

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 20160701 120

Cuticular waxes are essential for the well-being of all plants, from controlling the transport of water and nutrients across the plant surface to protecting them against external environmental attacks. Despite their significance, our current understanding regarding the structure and function of the wax film is limited. In this work, we have formed representative reconstituted wax film models of controlled thicknesses that facilitated an ex vivo study of plant cuticular wax film properties by neu ...[more]

PMID: 27466439

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Project description:As a barrier for plants to contact with the outside world, epidermal wax plays an important role in resisting biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we analyzed the effect of wax content on leaf permeability by measuring the wax loss rate in the leaf. To further clarify the wax composition of the wheat epidermis and its molecular regulation mechanism, we applied untargeted lipidomic and transcriptome analysis on the leaf epidermis wax of Jimai 22 low-wax mutant (waxless) and multi-wax mutant (waxy). Our research showed that the mutant waxy has a slow loss rate, which can maintain higher leaf water content. 31 lipid subclasses and 1,367 lipid molecules were identified. By analyzing the wax differences of the two mutants, we found that the main lipid components of leaf epidermis wax in Jimai 22 were WE (C19-C50), DG (C27-C53), MG (C31-C35), and OAHFA (C31-C52). Carbon chain length analysis showed that, in wheat epidermis wax, WE was dominated by C44 molecules, DG was mainly concentrated in C47, C45, C37, and C31 molecules, C48 played a leading role in OAHFA, and C35 and C31 played a major role in MG. Among them, DG, MG, and OAHFA were detected in wheat leaf wax for the first time, and they were closely related to stress resistance. Compared with the waxy, 6,840 DEGs were detected in the mutant waxless, 3,181 DEGs were upregulated, and 3,659 DEGs were downregulated. The metabolic pattern of main waxy components in the wheat epidermis was constructed according to KEGG metabolic pathway and 46 related genes were screened, including KSC, TER, FAR, WSD1, CER1, MAH1, ALDH7A1, CYP704B1, ACOT1_2_4, CYP86, MGLL, GPAT, ALDH, DPP1, dgkA, plsC, and E2.3.1.158 related genes. The screened wax-related genes were confirmed to be highly reliable by qRT-PCR. In addition, we found TER gene TraesCS6B03G1132900LC in wheat mutant waxless leaves for the first time, which inhibited the synthesis of long-chain acyl-CoA (n+2) by downregulating its expression. These results provide valuable reference information for further study of wheat epidermis wax heredity and molecular regulation.

Project description:Previous studies have shown that wheat grain yield is seriously affected by drought stress, and leaf cuticular wax is reportedly associated with drought tolerance. However, most studies have focused on cuticular wax biosynthesis and model species. The effects of cuticular wax on wheat drought tolerance have rarely been studied. The aims of the current study were to study the effects of leaf cuticular wax on wheat grain yield under drought stress using the above-mentioned wheat NILs and to discuss the possible physiological mechanism of cuticular wax on high grain yield under drought stress. Compared to water-irrigated (WI) conditions, the cuticular wax content (CWC) in glaucous and non-glaucous NILs under drought-stress (DS) conditions both increased; mean increase values were 151.1 and 114.4%, respectively, which was corroborated by scanning electronic microscopy images of large wax particles loaded on the surfaces of flag leaves. The average yield of glaucous NILs was higher than that of non-glaucous NILs under DS conditions in 2014 and 2015; mean values were 7368.37 kg·ha-1 and 7103.51 kg·ha-1. This suggested that glaucous NILs were more drought-tolerant than non-glaucous NILs (P = 0.05), which was supported by the findings of drought tolerance indices TOL and SSI in both years, the relatively high water potential and relative water content, and the low ELWL. Furthermore, the photosynthesis rate (Pn ) of glaucous and non-glaucous wheat NILs under DS conditions decreased by 7.5 and 9.8%, respectively; however, glaucous NILs still had higher mean values of Pn than those of non-glaucous NILs, which perhaps resulted in the higher yield of glaucous NILs. This could be explained by the fact that glaucous NILs had a smaller Fv/Fm reduction, a smaller PI reduction and a greater ABS/RC increase than non-glaucous NILs under DS conditions. This is the first report to show that wheat cuticular wax accumulation is associated with drought tolerance. Moreover, the leaf CWC can be an effective selection criterion in the development of drought-tolerant wheat cultivars.

Dataset Information

Structural features of reconstituted wheat wax films.

Publications

Structural features of reconstituted wheat wax films.

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