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CELL BIOLOGY AND SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION

Tensile Properties of Arabidopsis Cell Walls Depend on Both a Xyloglucan Cross-Linked Microfibrillar Network and Rhamnogalacturonan II-Borate Complexes¹

Department of Food Materials Science, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, United Kingdom (P.R., A.C.S.); Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom (K.S.-S., K.F., M.C.M.); and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, 75 North Eagleville Road, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 062693125 (W.-D.R.)

The mechanical properties of plant organs depend upon anatomical structure, cell-cell adhesion, cell turgidity, and the mechanical properties of their cell walls. By testing the mechanical responses of Arabidopsis mutants, it is possible to deduce the contribution that polymers of the cell wall make to organ strength. We developed a method to measure the tensile parameters of the expanded regions of turgid or plasmolyzed dark-grown Arabidopsis hypocotyls and applied it to the fucose biosynthesis mutant mur1, the xyloglucan glycosyltransferase mutants mur2 and mur3, and the katanin mutant bot1. Hypocotyls from plants grown in the presence of increasing concentrations of dichlorobenzonitrile, an inhibitor of cellulose synthesis, were considerably weakened, indicating the validity of our approach. In order of decreasing strength, the hypocotyls of mur2 > bot1 and mur1 > mur3 were each found to have reduced strength and a proportionate reduction in modulus compared with wild type. The tensile properties of the hypocotyls and of the inflorescence stems of mur1 were rescued by growth in the presence of high concentrations of borate, which is known to cross-link the pectic component rhamnogalacturonan II. From comparison of the mechanical responses of mur2 and mur3, we deduce that galactose-containing side chains of xyloglucan make a major contribution to overall wall strength, whereas xyloglucan fucosylation plays a comparatively minor role. We conclude that borate-complexed rhamnogalacturonan II and galactosylated xyloglucan contribute to the tensile strength of cell walls.

¹ This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (competitive strategic grants to P.R., A.C.S., and M.C.M.), by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (to M.C.M.), by the U.S. Department of Energy (grant to W.-D.R.), and by the National Science Foundation (grant to W.-D.R.).

² Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907–1392.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail andrew.smith{at}bbsrc.ac.uk; fax 44–1603–507723.

Received February 17, 2003; returned for revision March 18, 2003; accepted March 18, 2003.

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