Suberin: From Genes to Function

植物通过在它们的表面涂上防水材料来保护自己不受环境的影响。例如，一种蜡质的角质层可以排斥水分，覆盖在树叶和针叶上，有助于防止真菌和细菌进入内部组织。类似地，树木形成厚厚的树皮，树皮的细胞包裹着一种名为Suberin的防水材料。Suberin也形成于根和块茎的表面，在表皮细胞中，它有助于维持水分平衡，并充当土壤传播疾病生物的物理屏障。在根中，另一层细胞，称为内胚层，也含有Suberin。这些细胞在进入维管组织之前是对水、营养物质和病原体的最后一道物理屏障，维管组织将水分和营养分配到整个植物。因为如果说它在调节水流和限制病原菌传播方面发挥着重要作用，那么它在抗旱和抵抗土传病原体方面发挥着重要作用。在此之前，我们已经证明大豆根部的大豆黄腐素含量与田间水平的抗病能力密切相关。我的研究计划侧重于了解大豆油苷的形成(生物合成)，包括植物控制它们形成的大豆油苷数量的方法。我们目前正在关注马铃薯(Solanum Tuberosum)(马铃薯，Suberin生物合成模型)和大豆(Glyine Max)(大豆，Suberin在病原菌抗性中发挥作用的模型)的脂肪酸w-羟基酶(FAwH)基因。这代表着从化学、生化和代谢学方法到包括分子生物学方法的进步。通过更好地了解植物如何控制大豆黄素的形成位置和数量，我们将能够找到方法来增强关键农业作物的这一过程，从而为植物提供增强的自然防御能力。

Plants protect themselves from the environment by coating their surfaces with water resilient materials. For example, a waxy cuticle that repels water covers leaves and needles and helps prevent fungi and bacteria from accessing the inner tissue. Similarly, trees form a thick bark, the cells of which are encrusted with a water resilient material named suberin. Suberin is also formed on the surfaces of roots and tubers, in the epidermis cells, where it helps maintain water balance and acts as a physical barrier to soil-borne disease organisms. In roots, another layer of cells, called the endodermis, also contains suberin. These cells act as the last physical barrier to water, nutrients and pathogens before they can enter the vascular tissue that distributes water and nutrients throughout the plant. Because if its importance in regulating water flow and restricting pathogen spread, suberin plays a major role in drought resistance and resistance to soil-borne disease agents. Previously we have shown that the amount of suberin in soybean roots is strongly correlated with field level disease resistance. My research program focuses on understanding the formation (biosynthesis) of suberin including the ways that plants control the amount of suberin that they formed. We are currently focusing on Fatty Acid w-Hydroxylase (FAwH) genes from both Solanum tuberosum (potato, a model for suberin biosynthesis) and Glycine max (soybean, a model for the role of suberin in pathogen resistance). This represents a progression from chemical, biochemical and metabolomic approaches to include a molecular biological approach. With a better understanding of how plants control the location and amount of suberin they form, we will be able to find ways to enhance this process in key agricultural crops thereby providing plants with enhanced natural defenses.