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The role of microtubules in regulating cell wall organization and the shape of plant cells

Reference	BBS/E/J/00000130
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Clive Lloyd
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,974,578
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1997
End date	18/09/2012
Duration	185 months

Abstract

The Lloyd group works on the dynamic properties of microtubules that adhere to the inner surface of the plasma membrane. Here, the microtubules guide the movement of cellulose synthesizing complexes in the membrane as they extrude cellulose microfibrils in to the cell wall. Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth and the major sink for bioconversion of carbon dioxide. By understanding microtubules we aim to understand how cellulose is organized in the wall and how the shape of plant cells is controlled. Plant cells expand into space by taking water into the central vacuole and the direction in which the cell swells is controlled according to the way that the tough cellulose microfibrils are aligned. The group focuses on the microtubule-associated proteins that control the dynamics of microtubules, and how they aggregate together, and in this way we investigate how the growth axis forms. This has implications for important traits such as the stature of plants (tall vs dwarf; straight vs twisted) and the formation of biomass for fuel and fodder. We are also interested in the secondary cell wall that is laid down when cells stop elongating. In particular, we work on xylem cells - hollow, dead cells that transport water from root to shoot. Before the cells die the microtubules bunch-up into thick rings that template correspondingly thick rings of wall, which are extremely rich in cellulose. These rings stop the hollow cells from collapsing and the strengthened tubes are key in projecting shoots up against gravity. Our group has developed a method for inducing xylem cells to form in cell culture. This allows the use of modern molecular tools to regulate microtubule-associated proteins beneath these cellulose-rich walls that play such a vital part in the global carbon economy. We use microinjection of fluorescent protein to study cytoskeletal dynamics (both actin and microtubules), and computer reconstruction of confocal images to study three-dimensional organisation. We work on actin-as as microtubule- associated proteins to find out how cytoskeletal dynamics are controlled by hormones and throughout the cell cycle.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Biochemistry & Cell Biology (BCB)
Research Topics	Bioenergy, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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