Regulation of cellulose synthase assembly and cellulose microfibril structure by STELLO proteins

纤维素是植物细胞壁的主要成分，为植物细胞壁提供强度，是地球上最丰富的有机聚合物。它在日常生活中的应用是广泛的，例如我们大量使用棉花、纸张和木材。从植物细胞壁制备纤维素，取代化石石油衍生材料，应用日益广泛。例如，它可以用作食品和油漆的增稠剂，也可以用来制造可能取代合成塑料织物的新纺织品。然而，纤维素生物学和纤维素结构的许多方面尚不清楚。更好地了解纤维素纤维，它们是如何制造的，以及它们在不同植物中的差异，将有助于我们最好地利用这种可再生资源。使纤维素纤维进入植物细胞壁的分子机器是一个复杂的结构。我们最近发现了在植物中制造纤维素的一种新成分。在这项研究中，我们希望了解这种名为STELLO的新成分如何能够影响植物纤维素的合成。在STELLO不能正常工作的植物中，我们发现纤维素有缺陷。植物的壁很脆弱，组成部分不能正常地粘在一起。这一发现使我们有机会研究植物壁上不适当的纤维素纤维对植物的影响。我们还将利用一项新开发的技术，与医学上使用的磁共振有关，来研究纤维素和其他细胞壁分子的形状。通过这项技术，我们最近发现了植物细胞壁的材料是如何通过分子形状的精确互补而组装成纤维的，就像拼图的碎片一样。在没有STELLO的植物中，形状似乎不能很好地组合在一起。因此，研究这一过程将揭示纤维素的形状是如何形成的，以及它对植物和我们从植物中提取的材料有何重要意义。

Cellulose, a major component of plant cell walls, provides strength to plant cell walls and is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. Its application in everyday life is widespread, exemplified by our large-scale use of cotton, paper and timber. The applications are increasing for cellulose prepared from plant cell walls, replacing fossil oil-derived materials. For example, it can be used as a thickener in food and paints, and to make new textiles that might replace synthetic, plastic fabrics. Yet there are many aspects of cellulose biology and cellulose structure that are not understood. A better understanding of the cellulose fibres, how they are made, and how they differ in different plants, will help us make best use of this renewable resource. The molecular machine that spins cellulose fibres into the plant cell walls is a complicated structure. We recently discovered a new component of the machinery that makes cellulose in plants. In this research, we wish to understand how this new component, named STELLO, is able to influence the plant cellulose synthesis. In plants where STELLO does not work normally, we have found that the cellulose is defective. The plant walls are weak, and the components don't stick together normally. This discovery gives us an opportunity to study the effects on plants of having improper cellulose fibres in their walls. We will also exploit a newly developed technique, related to the magnetic resonance used in medicine, to study the shapes of cellulose and other cell wall molecules. With this technique we recently discovered how the material of the plant cell walls can assemble into fibres through precise complementarity of the molecular shapes, like pieces of a puzzle that snap together. In the plants without STELLO, it seems the shapes don't fit together properly. Studying this process therefore will reveal how the shape of cellulose is made, and in what ways it isimportant for plants and the materials we make from plants.