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. 2011 Jun;62(10):3545-61.
doi: 10.1093/jxb/err045. Epub 2011 Mar 14.

Identification of genes involved in cell wall biogenesis in grasses by differential gene expression profiling of elongating and non-elongating maize internodes

Maurice Bosch  1 , Claus-Dieter Mayer, Alan Cookson, Iain S Donnison
Affiliations

Identification of genes involved in cell wall biogenesis in grasses by differential gene expression profiling of elongating and non-elongating maize internodes

Maurice Bosch et al. J Exp Bot. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Despite the economic importance of grasses as food, feed, and energy crops, little is known about the genes that control their cell wall synthesis, assembly, and remodelling. Here a detailed transcriptome analysis that allowed the identification of genes involved in grass cell wall biogenesis is provided. Differential gene expression profiling, using maize oligonucleotide arrays, was used to identify genes differentially expressed between an elongating internode, containing cells exhibiting primary cell wall synthesis, and an internode that had just ceased elongation and in which many cells were depositing secondary cell wall material. This is one of only a few studies specifically aimed at the identification of cell wall-related genes in grasses. Analysis identified new candidate genes for a role in primary and secondary cell wall biogenesis in grasses. The results suggest that many proteins involved in cell wall processes during normal development are also recruited during defence-related cell wall remodelling events. This work provides a platform for studies in which candidate genes will be functionally tested for involvement in cell wall-related processes, increasing our knowledge of cell wall biogenesis and its regulation in grasses. Since several grasses are currently being developed as lignocellulosic feedstocks for biofuel production, this improved understanding of grass cell wall biogenesis is timely, as it will facilitate the manipulation of traits favourable for sustainable food and biofuel production.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Cross-section of the elongating internode IN13 (a) and the non-elongating internode IN9 (b) stained with Maule reagent. Dark coloration indicates the presence of syringyl lignin units. epi, epidermis; xl, xylem; par, parenchyma; phl, phloem; px, protoxylem; scl, sclerenchyma. Scale bar=200 μm. (This figure is available in colour at JXB online.)
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
The number of differentially expressed genes between the elongating internode IN13 and the non-elongating internode IN9. The green and blue areas represent the number of >2-fold (P <0.01) and >4-fold (P <0.005) differentially expressed genes, respectively. The light grey area shows the number of genes represented more than once in the >4-fold differentially expressed gene list.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Dye-swap plot depicting the log-fold change for IN13 versus IN9 from the first three arrays (IN13 on Cy5) on the x-axis against the corresponding log-fold change from the three dye-swapped arrays (IN13 on Cy3) on the y-axis. Significant genes with at least a 2-fold change are labelled in yellow and significant genes with >4-fold changes are labelled in red. A few non-significant (black coloured) spots can be seen in the >2-fold change region. These are the ones furthest away from the diagonal, which shows that the statistical test successfully eliminates genes with non-consistent changes.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Functional categories of genes showing >4-fold differential expression between the elongating internode IN13 and the non-elongating internode IN9.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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