Changes in cellular dynamics of cellulose synthases during secondary cell wall production

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We have submitted a draft manuscript on one of our related research projects. This project has looked at the role of a protein closely associated with cellulose synthesis, but who’s function is still unknown, especially in plant secondary cell walls. Our paper presents data supporting the hypothesis that this protein is important for controlling the speeds at which enzymes produce cellulose. This may cause the defects in the crystallinity of the cellulose being produced when the protein is absent, resulting in the decrease in cellulose strength but not quantity. We are currently awaiting response from reviewers.We have created several photo-convertible fluorophore tagged cellulose synthase enzymes and tested their efficacy in plants. So far we have determined that though some of these fluorophores are viable in bacteria, yeast and mammalian systems, they are not viable in plants due to their weak signal and potential for dimerizing prematurely causing artifacts. We have however identified several that would work for our goals of visualizing the cellular dynamic turnover of cellulose synthase enzymes and are currently developing research questions with such tools including determining enzyme residency within Golgi bodies.Our experiments have showed negative data for the presence of lipid microdomains within the plasma membrane surrounding developing secondary cell walls. This data infers that there are no such domains and we are currently seeing if we can combine the data to publish in a short paper.