Biosynthesis and Secretion of Plant Cell Walls

包裹每个植物细胞的细胞壁决定了它的形状，细胞壁的多糖决定了细胞如何构建成组织，器官和整个植物。植物细胞壁是环境中植物生产的基础，包括所有农业和林业。该研究计划的长期目标是了解植物细胞如何合成和分泌其细胞壁前体，包括多糖和专门的壁组分，如脂质和木质素。我们使用最先进的显微镜工具，如冷冻固定，高分辨率电子显微镜，电子断层扫描和活细胞成像，以产生最高质量的细胞结构信息，并将其与使用分子生物学和生物化学的细胞成分功能表征联合收割机相结合。该提案的短期目标是：1）阐明合成细胞壁多糖的酶如何组织并保留在细胞内称为高尔基体的膜堆叠中; 2）检验植物细胞可以通过内质网和质膜之间独特的纳米空间（15-30 nm的小间隙）将脂质运输到细胞壁的假设;和3）确定木质部发育期间木质素组分如何输出到细胞壁中。细胞壁生物学领域已经变得非常活跃，因为细胞壁转化为独特的生物聚合物和乙醇生物燃料的潜力已经得到提升。这个基础研究计划的产品将是对植物细胞壁生物学的进一步了解，这有可能为应用研究提供信息，并为年轻的细胞壁研究人员提供尖端基础生物学的培训。

The cell wall encasing each plant cell determines its shape and the polysaccharides of the cell wall determine how cells are built into tissues, organs, and whole plants. Plant cell walls are the foundation of plant production in the environment, including all agriculture and forestry.The long-term goal of this research program is to understand how plant cells synthesize and secrete their cell wall precursors, both the polysaccharides and specialized wall components such as lipids and lignin. We use state of the art microscopy tools, such as cryo-fixation, high resolution electron microscopy, electron tomography, and live cell imaging to produce the highest quality cell structure information and combine this with functional characterization of cellular components using molecular biology and biochemistry.The short-term goals of this proposal are: 1) to elucidate how enzymes that synthesize cell wall polysaccharides are organized and retained inside the cell in membrane stacks called Golgi bodies; 2) to test the hypothesis that plant cells can transport lipids to the cell wall through unique nanospaces, small gaps of 15-30 nm, between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane; and 3) to define how the components of lignin are exported into cell walls during xylem development. The field of cell wall biology has become extremely active as the potential for the conversion of cell walls into unique biopolymers and ethanolic biofuel has been promoted. The products of this fundamental research program will be an enhanced understanding of plant cell wall biology that has the potential to inform applied research as well as the training of young cell wall researchers in cutting-edge basic biology.