The plant cell wall is a self-assembling supramolecular structure of interpenetrating carbohydrate polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin, and a minor component of extensin proteins. Wall properties arise from correct self-assembly but very little is known about how this occurs. It is known that one (RSH) of the 20 different extensins in the model plant, Arabidopsis, is critical for correct formation on new plant walls, and that this extensin has the capacity to self-assemble to form a scaffold. Several lines of evidence suggest that extensins provide templates on which other components organize themselves. The central question here is how do extensins form scaffolds? Extensins are highly repetitive glycopeptides of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acid motifs, with an abundance of the positively charged amino acids lysine and histidine. Functionality of these extensin components will be tested using synthetic genes to replace RSH in the rsh mutant. In addition to this genetic study, purified RSH analogs and walls containing them will be characterized, biochemically by isolation and characterization of wall peptides, including cross-linking assays, and biophysically by imaging of analog self-assembly using atomic force microscopy. The project also aims to identify plant and wall differences with extensin analog sequences. Defining the molecular interactions of extensins in the primary cell wall, and the precise roles of the conserved peptide motifs, are highly relevant to understanding wall self-assembly, defense responses and plant morphogenesis. As the most abundant biomass on earth, plant cell walls contribute crucially to self-sustaining civilizations from shelter, to food, fiber and fuel. A potential impact of this work is wall remodeling to enable new and improved uses of plant cell wall, not least the production of biofuels. Junior researchers including those with minority status will work as part of a team crossing several scientific disciplines to solve this significant biological problem.
