RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Direct Interference with Rhamnogalacturonan I Biosynthesis in Golgi Vesicles
JF Plant Physiology
JO Plant Physiol.
FD American Society of Plant Biologists
SP 95
OP 102
DO 10.1104/pp.010948
VO 129
IS 1
A1 Skjøt, Michael
A1 Pauly, Markus
A1 Bush, Maxwell S.
A1 Borkhardt, Bernhard
A1 McCann, Maureen C.
A1 Ulvskov, Peter
YR 2002
UL http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/129/1/95.abstract
AB Pectin is a class of complex cell wall polysaccharides with multiple roles during cell development. Assigning specific functions to particular polysaccharides is in its infancy, in part, because of the limited number of mutants and transformants available with modified pectic polymers in their walls. Pectins are also important polymers with diverse applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries, which would benefit from technology for producing pectins with specific functional properties. In this report, we describe the generation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv Posmo) tuber transformants producing pectic rhamnogalacturonan I (RGI) with a low level of arabinosylation. This was achieved by the expression of a Golgi membrane-anchored endo-α-1,5-arabinanase. Sugar composition analysis of RGI isolated from transformed and wild-type tubers showed that the arabinose content was decreased by approximately 70% in transformed cell walls compared with wild type. The modification of the RGI was confirmed by immunolabeling with an antibody recognizing α-1,5-arabinan. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the biosynthesis of a plant cell wall polysaccharide has been manipulated through the action of a glycosyl hydrolase targeted to the Golgi compartment.