Description
Why is the project needed? The demand on biomass supply is continually increasing. Plant biomass is an important source of renewable energy and traditional (wood, fibers) as well as advanced (lignin) biomaterials. This project aims to contribute to new technologies and strategies for effective and application-driven plant biomass production. What is the objective of the project? The proposed project will elucidate molecular mechanisms mediating hormonal control of cell wall metabolism, which plays an important role in vascular tissue development and differentiation and has direct implications for biomass production and quality. What is the project expected to achieve? The outcomes of the project will prospectively contribute to improvement of biomass quality and quantity production in bio-energy crops, increasing knowledge about plant cell wall development beyond the current state of the art towards close-to-market applications. Who is expected to benefit? The target group of the outcomes will primarily include research community in the field and potentially companies focused on biomass-based production ranging from bioenergy applications to the chemicals production. Donor partner and role of partner The partner based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology will provide their model system to generate highly specific cell wall damage and study the mechanism mediating responses to it. What will the partnership achieve? The collaboration will result in long-term networking in research and education, and involvement in international research projects on lignocellulosic feedstock production/fabrication.
Summary of project results
Cell wall is a structure surrounding plant cells that cannot be found in animals. It provides the plant cell with mechanical support, but its properties could be quickly changed so that it will accommodate the immediate needs of the plant during development. In the solved project we attempted to elucidate the role of plant hormones in i) formation of vascular tissues, ii) lignification and iii) cell wall integrity signaling. First, we have identified novel role of plant hormones cytokinins in the regulation of vascular tissue differentiation. We have shown that endogenous cytokinins and cytokinin signaling control production of specific structure called secondary cell wall. We identified the molecular mechanisms of this regulation, which comprises cytokinin-mediated negative regulation of NST genes, the so called “master switches’, able to initiate the downstream regulatory cascade leading to the secondary cell wall production. We found that via regulating NST3 cytokinins control the proper timing of the onset of secondary cell wall formation, which is important for development of fully functional xylem conductive tissue. Second, we have identified the role of largely unexplored DIRIGENT protein family as important regulators of plant stress responses. We found that production of two members of the family, AtDIR13 and AtDIR14 is induced by cytokinins and we recognized the role of the proteins in the regulation of lateral root and root hair formation. Third, we found that both cell wall integrity and osmoregulation control cytokinin metabolism. Interestingly, while disturbance in the cell wall integrity seems to downregulate endogenous cytokinin levels via activation of cytokinin degrading enzymes, osmoregulation seems to attenuate activation of those enzymes, thus counteracting the effect of cell wall disturbance. Both processes are important for the regulation of the root growth via controlling the equilibrium between the cell division and cell differentiation. All the aforementioned results have large application potential. More details about the project including info on project team, institutions involved and most recent results could be found at
http://www.ceitec.cz/cytowall.
Summary of bilateral results
All the main objectives were achieved with strong impact on the community working in both fundamental and applied research fields. Joint scientific publications (one published, several manuscripts submitted/just before submission). Beneficiaries will receive the information in a form of research paper(s), manuscripts shared via open-shared platform (BioRxiv) or plenty of dissemination activities including popularization article. The main benefit is deeper understanding the molecular principles driving plant development at the level of cell wall and disclosure of its application potential for improving the everyday life quality. The complementary know-how and expertize resulted to strong synergistic effects and improved competence of both partners. The project partner (MU) provided the expertize in the field of hormonal regulations while the donor partner (NTNU) contributed the know-how in the field of cell wall biology. The project outcomes would not be possible to achieve at a quality and detailed mechanistic understanding reached if the partners were working independently. The novel and very fruitful relationship with high potential in future collaborative research. Dominant women participation in the project team contributed to the women recognition on advanced (post-doc) research positions. Wider societal implications, ethical issues, awareness of general public towards the recent importance of science and its wider societal recognition were addressed via number of dissemination activities.