Suberin: From Genes to Function

植物通过在表面涂上防水材料来保护自己免受环境的影响。例如，一层防水的蜡质角质层覆盖在叶子和针叶上，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，其细胞被称为木栓质的水弹性材料包裹。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，并作为土传疾病生物体的物理屏障。在根中，另一层细胞，称为内皮层，也含有木栓质。这些细胞是水分、营养物质和病原体进入维管组织之前的最后一道物理屏障，维管组织将水分和营养物质分布在整个植物中。因为如果木栓质在调节水流和限制病原体传播方面发挥重要作用，那么木栓质在抗旱和抵抗土传病害方面起着重要作用。以前我们已经表明，大豆根中木栓质的量与田间水平的抗病性密切相关。我的研究项目集中在了解木栓质的形成（生物合成），包括植物控制它们形成的木栓质数量的方式。我们目前正专注于马铃薯（马铃薯，木栓质生物合成的模型）和大豆（大豆，木栓质在病原体抗性中的作用的模型）的脂肪酸羟化酶（FAwH）基因。这代表了从化学、生物化学和代谢组学方法到包括分子生物学方法的进展。随着对植物如何控制它们形成的木栓质的位置和数量的更好理解，我们将能够找到在关键农作物中增强这一过程的方法，从而为植物提供增强的自然防御。

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.