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The inositol oxygenase gene family of Arabidopsis is involved in the biosynthesis of nucleotide sugar precursors for cell-wall matrix polysaccharides

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Abstract

The nucleotide sugar UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA) is the principal precursor for galacturonic acid, xylose, apiose and arabinose residues of the plant cell-wall polymers. UDP-GlcA can be synthesized by two different functional pathways in Arabidopsis involving either UDP-glucose dehydrogenase or inositol oxygenase as the initial enzyme reaction to channel carbohydrates into a pool of UDP sugars used for cell-wall biosynthesis. The genes for the enzyme myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) were analyzed in Arabidopsis. They represent a small gene family containing four members. The transcription of all those members indicates a transient and organ-specific gene expression pattern in growing plant tissues as analyzed by RT-PCR and in promoter::GUS reporter gene lines. Two isoforms (MIOX1, MIOX2) are expressed in almost all tissues of the plant, whereas the expression of MIOX4 and MIOX5 is largely restricted to flowers, particularly maturing pollen. T-DNA insertion lines in MIOX genes were isolated; however, single knock-outs show growth phenotypes similar to the wild type. The monosaccharide composition of the cell wall in these mutants is not significantly changed compared to wild type plants. However, the incorporation of 3H-inositol into wall polymers of seedlings is greatly impaired in the mutant lines ΔMIOX1 and ΔMIOX2, which are the only isoforms that are expressed in seedlings.

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Abbreviations

GlcA:

Glucuronic acid

GUS:

β-Glucuronidase (uidA-gene from E. coli)

MIOX:

Myo-inositol oxygenase

UDP-Glc:

Uridine-diphospho-glucose

UDP-GlcA:

Uridine-diphospho-glucuronic acid

UGD:

UDP-glucose dehydrogenase

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Acknowledgements

U. Kanter and B. Usadel contributed equally to this paper. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions and Mark-Daniel Ziemann for the reading the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG) and the Max-Planck Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Biology, University of Frankfurt, Biocenter N200, Marie-Curie-Strasse 9, 60439, Frankfurt, Germany

    Ulrike Kanter & Raimund Tenhaken

  2. Plant Cell Wall Group, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Germany

    Björn Usadel & Markus Pauly

  3. Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue St Leu, 80039, Amiens, France

    François Guerineau

  4. MPI for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany

    Yong Li

Authors
  1. Ulrike Kanter
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  2. Björn Usadel
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  3. François Guerineau
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  4. Yong Li
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  5. Markus Pauly
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  6. Raimund Tenhaken
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Correspondence to Raimund Tenhaken.

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Kanter, U., Usadel, B., Guerineau, F. et al. The inositol oxygenase gene family of Arabidopsis is involved in the biosynthesis of nucleotide sugar precursors for cell-wall matrix polysaccharides. Planta 221, 243–254 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1441-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1441-0

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