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Spatially and temporally restricted expression of PtrMYB021 regulates secondary cell wall formation in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Among the R2R3 MYB transcription factors that involve in the regulation of secondary cell wall formation in Arabidopsis, MYB46 alone is sufficient to induce the entire secondary cell wall biosynthesis program. PtrMYB021, the poplar homolog of MYB46, has been reported to regulate secondary cell wall formation when expressed in Arabidopsis. We report here that spatially and temporally restricted expression of PtrMYB021 is critical for its function in regulating secondary cell wall formation. By using quantitative RT-PCR, we found that PtrMYB021 was expressed primarily in xylem tissues. When expressed in Arabidopsis under the control of PtrCesA8, but not the 35S promoter, PtrMYB021 increased secondary cell wall thickness, which is likely caused by increased lignification as well as changes in cell wall carbohydrate composition. In consistent with this, elevated expression of lignin and cellulose biosynthetic genes were observed in the transgenic plants. When expressed in Arabidopsis protoplasts as fusion proteins to the Gal4 DNA binding domain, PtrMYB021 activated the reporter gene Gal4-GUS. In summary, our results suggest that PtrMYB021 is a transcriptional activator, and spatially and temporally restricted expression of PtrMYB021 in Arabidopsis regulates secondary cell wall formation by activating a subset of secondary cell wall biosynthesis genes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of MOE, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Wei Wang & Shucai Wang

  2. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Eryang Li & Carl J. Douglas

  3. Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Ilga Porth & Shawn D. Mansfield

  4. Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Jin-Gui Chen

Authors
  1. Wei Wang
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  2. Eryang Li
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  3. Ilga Porth
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  4. Jin-Gui Chen
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  5. Shawn D. Mansfield
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  6. Carl J. Douglas
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  7. Shucai Wang
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Correspondence to Shucai Wang.

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Wang, W., Li, E., Porth, I. et al. Spatially and temporally restricted expression of PtrMYB021 regulates secondary cell wall formation in Arabidopsis. J. Plant Biol. 59, 16–23 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-016-0438-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-016-0438-0

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