<i>UDP-GLYCOSYLTRANSFERASE 72E3</i> Plays a Role in Lignification of Secondary Cell Walls in <i>Arabidopsis</i>

• Main Authors: Fabien Baldacci-Cresp, Julien Le Roy, Brigitte Huss, Cédric Lion, Anne Créach, Corentin Spriet, Ludovic Duponchel, Christophe Biot, Marie Baucher, Simon Hawkins, Godfrey Neutelings
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: lignin; UDP glycosyltransferase; glycosylation; monolignol incorporation; cell wall
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/17/6094
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

Lignin is present in plant secondary cell walls and is among the most abundant biological polymers on Earth. In this work we investigated the potential role of the <i>UGT72E</i> gene family in regulating lignification in <i>Arabidopsis</i>. Chemical determination of floral stem lignin contents in <i>ugt72e1</i>, <i>ugt72e2,</i> and <i>ugt72e3</i> mutants revealed no significant differences compared to WT plants. In contrast, the use of a novel safranin O ratiometric imaging technique indicated a significant increase in the cell wall lignin content of both interfascicular fibers and xylem from young regions of <i>ugt72e3</i> mutant floral stems. These results were globally confirmed in interfascicular fibers by Raman microspectroscopy. Subsequent investigation using a bioorthogonal triple labelling strategy suggested that the augmentation in lignification was associated with an increased capacity of mutant cell walls to incorporate H-, G-, and S-monolignol reporters. Expression analysis showed that this increase was associated with an up-regulation of <i>LAC17</i> and <i>PRX71</i>, which play a key role in lignin polymerization. Altogether, these results suggest that UGT72E3 can influence the kinetics of lignin deposition by regulating monolignol flow to the cell wall as well as the potential of this compartment to incorporate monomers into the growing lignin polymer.