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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

High Resolution Quantification of Crystalline Cellulose Accumulation in Arabidopsis Roots to Monitor Tissue-specific Cell Wall Modifications
Published on: May 10, 2016
KORRIGAN1 and its aspen homolog PttCel9A1 decrease cellulose crystallinity in Arabidopsis stems
Junko Takahashi1, Ulla J Rudsander, Mattias Hedenström
1Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, SLU, Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract:
KORRIGAN1 (KOR1) is a membrane-bound cellulase implicated in cellulose biosynthesis. PttCel9A1 from hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. x tremuloides Michx.) has high sequence similarity to KOR1 and we demonstrate here that it complements kor1-1 mutants, indicating that it is a KOR1 ortholog. We investigated the function of PttCel9A1/KOR1 in Arabidopsis secondary growth using transgenic lines expressing 35S::PttCel9A1 and the KOR1 mutant line irx2-2. The presence of elevated levels of PttCel9A1/KOR1 in secondary walls of 35S::PttCel9A1 lines was confirmed by in muro visualization of cellulase activity. Compared with the wild type, 35S::PttCel9A1 lines had higher trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-hydrolyzable glucan contents, similar Updegraff cellulose contents and lower cellulose crystallinity indices, as determined by (13)C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. irx2-2 mutants had wild-type TFA-hydrolyzable glucan contents, but reduced Updegraff cellulose contents and higher than wild-type cellulose crystallinity indices. The data support the hypothesis that PttCel9A1/KOR1 activity is present in cell walls, where it facilitates cellulose biosynthesis in a way that increases the amount of non-crystalline cellulose.
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