Abstract
The molecular mechanisms of vessel formation including secondary cell wall formation and construction of the bordered pits are still unknown. Zinnia mesophyll cells are induced to synchronously transdifferentiate into vessel elements in vitro. By microarray-analysis, several glycoside hydrolase (GH) family genes were found to be up-regulated during the transdifferentiation. In this study, we analyzed the expression and function of 28 Arabidopsis genes with significant sequence similarity to the zinnia genes. The expression profiles of these genes were analyzed in transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying YFP reporter genes driven by the promoters of each Arabidopsis gene. As a result, nine genes were found to be expressed in differentiating vessels in roots, suggesting that genes were homologues of the zinnia GH family genes. Furthermore, we will show the phenotype the Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutagenesis-knockout plants of the GH family genes.
