Arabidopsis 2010: Identification of the Function of a Family of Putative Glycosyltransferases

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The goal of this project is to determine the biological function of genes which encode six families of structurally related proteins, called the cellulose synthase like (CSL) proteins. Based on the sequence similarity to cellulose synthase, it is hypothesized that the CSL genes encode processive glycosyltransferases that may catalyze the synthesis of some of the non-cellulosic polymers that comprise plant cell walls and other exopolysaccharides such as stylar secretions and mucilage, or the glycosyl residues on arabinogalactan proteins Because plant cell walls and exopolysaccharides are the dominant component of biomass on earth, knowledge of the enzymes and genes associated with the synthesis of these compounds may facilitate methods for the production and utilization of plant biomass.The technical approach that will be used to determine the function of the CSL genes exploits the recently completed full genome sequence of Arabidopsis to facilitate directed genetic analysis of the genes. Most of the CSL genes will be inactivated by insertional mutagenesis. In addition, the expression of the CSL genes will be altered by producing transgenic plants that have increased or decreased accumulation of mRNA for the CSL genes. The effects of the mutations and transgenic events on the growth and development of the plants, and on plant polysaccharide composition will be analyzed in order to associate each CSL gene with a specific biological role and enzyme of known catalytic activity. A list of the accession numbers of the genes to be analyzed during this project can be found at http://www.arabidopsis.org/info/2010_projects/index.html. Information about the gene families can be found at http://cellwall.stanford.edu/cesa/index.shtml.