The molecular architecture of plant secondary cell walls is still not resolved. There are several proposed structures for cellulose fibrils, the main component of plant cell walls and the conformation of other molecules is even less well known. Glucuronic acid (GlcA) substitution of xylan (GUX) enzymes, in CAZy family glycosyl transferase (GT)8, decorate the xylan backbone with various specific patterns of GlcA. It was recently discovered that dicot xylan has a domain with the side chain decorations distributed on every second unit of the backbone (xylose). If the xylan backbone folds in a similar way to glucan chains in cellulose (2-fold helix), this kind of arrangement may allow the undecorated side of the xylan chain to hydrogen bond with the hydrophilic surface of cellulose microfibrils. MD simulations suggest that such interactions are energetically stable. We discuss the possible role of this xylan decoration pattern in building of the plant cell wall.
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February 2016
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Cover Image
Scanning electron micrograph of a cell from the endosperm of a barley grain. The cell is tightly packed with large, disk-shaped (A-type) and much smaller, almost spherical (B-type) starch granules. The smooth areas in this image are the surface of the cell walls of neighbouring endosperm cells. For further details see pp. 157-163. Image kindly provided by Elaine Barclay and Vasilios Andriotis (John Innes Centre, Norwich). - PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
Review Article|
February 09 2016
Xylan decoration patterns and the plant secondary cell wall molecular architecture
Marta Busse-Wicher;
Marta Busse-Wicher
*Department of Biochemistry and Leverhulme Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, U.K.
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Nicholas J. Grantham;
Nicholas J. Grantham
*Department of Biochemistry and Leverhulme Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, U.K.
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Jan J. Lyczakowski;
Jan J. Lyczakowski
*Department of Biochemistry and Leverhulme Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, U.K.
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Nino Nikolovski;
Nino Nikolovski
*Department of Biochemistry and Leverhulme Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, U.K.
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Paul Dupree
Paul Dupree
1
*Department of Biochemistry and Leverhulme Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email p.dupree@bioc.cam.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
November 02 2015
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2016 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited
2016
Biochem Soc Trans (2016) 44 (1): 74–78.
Article history
Received:
November 02 2015
Citation
Marta Busse-Wicher, Nicholas J. Grantham, Jan J. Lyczakowski, Nino Nikolovski, Paul Dupree; Xylan decoration patterns and the plant secondary cell wall molecular architecture. Biochem Soc Trans 15 February 2016; 44 (1): 74–78. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20150183
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