JXB Advance Access published online on October 10, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erm222
© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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RESEARCH PAPER |
Expression of polygalacturonases and evidence to support their role during cell separation processes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant Sciences Division, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jeremy.roberts{at}nottingham.ac.uk
Polygalacturonases (PGs) have been proposed to play an important role in the process of cell separation. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome contains 69 annotated genes that by amino acid homology and transcript organization could be classified as putative PGs and these can be grouped into multiple clades. An analysis of five members located in two separate clades, using reporter fusion constructs and reverse transcription-PCR, revealed that whilst these PGs exhibit high sequence similarity they have distinct patterns of spatial and temporal expression. Sites of expression include the aleurone and endosperm cells surrounding the emerging radicle in a germinating seed, the cortical cells adjacent to the developing lateral root, the abscission zones of floral organs, the dehiscence zone of anthers and siliques, and pollen grains. Silencing of an abscission-related PG (At2g41850), using a T-DNA insertion strategy, delayed the time-course of floral organ loss but did not prevent shedding from taking place. These observations are discussed with regard to the contribution that PGs may play during the life cycle of a plant.
Key words: Abscission, Arabidopsis thaliana, cell separation, dehiscence, gene expression, lateral root development, phylogenetic tree, polygalacturonase, seed germination
* Present address: Technologies for Systems Biology, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK.
Received 19 June 2007; Revised 8 August 2007 Accepted 24 August 2007
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