Abstract
Cellulose, a major component of the cell walls, is the most abundant biopolymer in plants and serves many uses as industrial materials. However, the cellulose synthesis is so complicated that the mechanisms have been poorly unraveled. By analyzing comprehensive gene coexpression profiles based on publicly available microarray datasets, we identified several transcription factor (TF) genes that were coexpressed with cell wall formation genes.
We experimentally examined functions of the TFs using Arabidopsis cultured cell T87. Overexpression of one of the TF genes, tightly coexpressed with genes involved in secondary cell wall formation, caused phenotype change, which was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer analysis. RNAi-induction of other TFs that coexpressed with genes involved in primary cell wall formation using glucocorticoid-inducible transcription system revealed lethal phenotypes when grown on dexamethasone. With a focus on these TFs, we will also report microarray analyses and metabolomic analyses using mass spectrometry.
