Plant surface lipid barriers: biosynthesis, regulation and protective functions

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Plants have specialized lipid-based barriers that play critical roles in controlling water movement, nutrient uptake, and gas exchange. These surface lipids also provide protection against various environmental stresses such as drought and pathogen attack. Plant aerial surfaces are coated with cuticle, which is composed mostly of polymerized lipids (cutin) and associated waxes. Likewise, suberin is a lipid-phenolic heteropolymeric barrier found in the cell walls of various external and internal tissues, including root endodermis and mature periderms (e.g. tuber skins and tree bark). As such, plant cuticles and suberized periderms form the largest biological interfaces on the planet, providing first points of contact with the surrounding, often hostile, environment.