Jeong Im Kim

Disruption of Mediator rescues the stunted growth of a lignin-deficient Arabidopsis mutant

Lignin is a phenylpropanoid-derived heteropolymer important for the strength and rigidity of the plant secondary cell wall. Genetic disruption of lignin biosynthesis has been proposed as a means to improve forage and bioenergy crops, but frequently results in stunted growth and developmental abnormalities, the mechanisms of which are poorly understood. Here we show that the phenotype of a lignin-deficient Arabidopsis mutant is dependent on the transcriptional co-regulatory complex, Mediator. Disruption of the Mediator complex subunits MED5a (also known as REF4) and MED5b (also known as RFR1) rescues the stunted growth, lignin deficiency and widespread changes in gene expression seen in the phenylpropanoid pathway mutant ref8, without restoring the synthesis of guaiacyl and syringyl lignin subunits. Cell walls of rescued med5a/5b ref8 plants instead contain a novel lignin consisting almost exclusively of p-hydroxyphenyl lignin subunits, and moreover exhibit substantially facilitated polysaccharide saccharification. These results demonstrate that guaiacyl and syringyl lignin subunits are largely dispensable for normal growth and development, implicate Mediator in an active transcriptional process responsible for dwarfing and inhibition of lignin biosynthesis, and suggest that the transcription machinery and signalling pathways responding to cell wall defects may be important targets to include in efforts to reduce biomass recalcitrance.

A synergistic biorefinery based on catalytic conversion of lignin prior to cellulose starting from lignocellulosic biomass

Current biomass utilization processes do not make use of lignin beyond its heat value. Here we report on a bimetallic Zn/Pd/C catalyst that converts lignin in intact lignocellulosic biomass directly into two methoxyphenol products, leaving behind the carbohydrates as a solid residue. Genetically modified poplar enhanced in syringyl (S) monomer content yields only a single product, dihydroeugenol. Lignin-derived methoxyphenols can be deoxygenated further to propylcyclohexane. The leftover carbohydrate residue is hydrolyzed by cellulases to give glucose in 95% yield, which is comparable to lignin-free cellulose (solka floc). New conversion pathways to useful fuels and chemicals are proposed based on the efficient conversion of lignin into intact hydrocarbons.

Four Isoforms of Arabidopsis 4-Coumarate:CoA Ligase Have Overlapping yet Distinct Roles in Phenylpropanoid Metabolism

Four isoforms of 4-coumaryl CoA ligase have different roles in the biosynthesis of soluble plant metabolites and cell wall polymers. The biosynthesis of lignin, flavonoids, and hydroxycinnamoyl esters share the first three enzymatic steps of the phenylpropanoid pathway. The last shared step is catalyzed by 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL), which generates p-coumaroyl CoA and caffeoyl CoA from their respective acids. Four isoforms of 4CL have been identified in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Phylogenetic analysis reveals that 4CL1, 4CL2, and 4CL4 are more closely related to each other than to 4CL3, suggesting that the two groups may serve different biological functions. Promoter-GUS analysis shows that 4CL1 and 4CL2 are expressed in lignifying cells. In contrast, 4CL3 is expressed in a broad range of cell types, and 4CL3 has acquired a distinct role in flavonoid metabolism. Sinapoylmalate, the major hydroxycinnamoyl ester found in Arabidopsis, is greatly reduced in the 4cl1 4cl3 mutant, showing that 4CL1 and 4CL3 function redundantly in its biosynthesis. 4CL1 accounts for the majority of the total 4CL activity, and loss of 4CL1 leads to reduction in lignin content but no growth defect. The 4cl1 4cl2 and 4cl1 4cl2 4cl3 mutants are both dwarf but do not have further reduced lignin than the 4cl1 mutant, indicating that either 4CL1 or 4CL2 is required for normal plant growth. Although 4CL4 has a limited expression profile, it does make a modest contribution to lignin biosynthesis. Together, these data show that the four isoforms of 4CL in Arabidopsis have overlapping yet distinct roles in phenylpropanoid metabolism.

Visualization of plant cell wall lignification using fluorescence‐tagged monolignols

Lignin is an abundant phenylpropanoid polymer produced by the oxidative polymerization of p-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols (monolignols). Lignification, i.e., deposition of lignin, is a defining feature of secondary cell wall formation in vascular plants, and provides an important mechanism for their disease resistance; however, many aspects of the cell wall lignification process remain unclear partly because of a lack of suitable imaging methods to monitor the process in vivo. In this study, a set of monolignol analogs γ-linked to fluorogenic aminocoumarin and nitrobenzofuran dyes were synthesized and tested as imaging probes to visualize the cell wall lignification process in Arabidopsis thaliana and Pinus radiata under various feeding regimens. In particular, we demonstrate that the fluorescence-tagged monolignol analogs can penetrate into live plant tissues and cells, and appear to be metabolically incorporated into lignifying cell walls in a highly specific manner. The localization of the fluorogenic lignins synthesized during the feeding period can be readily visualized by fluorescence microscopy and is distinguishable from the other wall components such as polysaccharides as well as the pre-existing lignin that was deposited earlier in development.

Indole Glucosinolate Biosynthesis Limits Phenylpropanoid Accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana

The ref5-1 mutant and its suppressors reveal that an intermediate in indole glucosinolate biosynthesis impacts the early steps of phenylpropanoid metabolism, an interaction that requires the Mediator complex. Plants produce an array of metabolites (including lignin monomers and soluble UV-protective metabolites) from phenylalanine through the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway. A subset of plants, including many related to Arabidopsis thaliana, synthesizes glucosinolates, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing secondary metabolites that serve as components of a plant defense system that deters herbivores and pathogens. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis thaliana reduced epidermal fluorescence5 (ref5-1) mutant, identified in a screen for plants with defects in soluble phenylpropanoid accumulation, has a missense mutation in CYP83B1 and displays defects in glucosinolate biosynthesis and in phenylpropanoid accumulation. CYP79B2 and CYP79B3 are responsible for the production of the CYP83B1 substrate indole-3-acetaldoxime (IAOx), and we found that the phenylpropanoid content of cyp79b2 cyp79b3 and ref5-1 cyp79b2 cyp79b3 plants is increased compared with the wild type. These data suggest that levels of IAOx or a subsequent metabolite negatively influence phenylpropanoid accumulation in ref5 and more importantly that this crosstalk is relevant in the wild type. Additional biochemical and genetic evidence indicates that this inhibition impacts the early steps of the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway and restoration of phenylpropanoid accumulation in a ref5-1 med5a/b triple mutant suggests that the function of the Mediator complex is required for the crosstalk.

Impact of engineered lignin composition on biomass recalcitrance and ionic liquid pretreatment efficiency

Lignin plays important biological functions in plant cell walls, but also contributes to the recalcitrance of the walls to deconstruction. In recent years, genetic modification of lignin biosynthesis pathways has become one of the primary targets of plant cell wall engineering. In this study, we used a combination of approaches to characterize the structural and compositional features of wild-type Arabidopsis and mutants with distinct lignin monomer compositions: fah1-2 (Guaiacyl, G-lignin dominant), C4H-F5H (Syringyl, S-lignin dominant), COMT1 (G/5-hydroxy G-lignin dominant), and a newly developed med5a med5b ref8 (p-hydroxyphenyl, H-lignin dominant) mutant. In order to understand how lignin modification affects biomass recalcitrance, substrate reactivity and lignin fractionation, we correlated these properties with saccharification efficiency after ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment. Results showed that the cleavage of β-O-4 linkages in the H- or S-lignin mutants was greater than that in G-lignin mutants. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) based calculations indicate higher chemical reactivity of the linkages between H- and S-lignin monomers, a possible cause of the reduced recalcitrance of H- or S-lignin mutants. Glycome profiling was conducted to study the impact of lignin modification on overall composition, extractability, integrity and lignin-associated features of most major non-cellulosic cell wall glycans in these mutants. This study provides insights into the role of lignin monomer composition on the enzymatic digestibility of biomass and the effect of lignin modification on overall wall structure and biomass pretreatment performance.

Chemically Induced Conditional Rescue of the Reduced Epidermal Fluorescence8 Mutant of Arabidopsis Reveals Rapid Restoration of Growth and Selective Turnover of Secondary Metabolite Pools

Activation of the wild-type gene in an Arabidopsis phenylpropanoid mutant at different developmental stages has distinct impacts on metabolic changes and plant growth. The phenylpropanoid pathway is responsible for the biosynthesis of diverse and important secondary metabolites including lignin and flavonoids. The reduced epidermal fluorescence8 (ref8) mutant of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), which is defective in a lignin biosynthetic enzyme p-coumaroyl shikimate 3′-hydroxylase (C3′H), exhibits severe dwarfism and sterility. To better understand the impact of perturbation of phenylpropanoid metabolism on plant growth, we generated a chemically inducible C3′H expression construct and transformed it into the ref8 mutant. Application of dexamethasone to these plants greatly alleviates the dwarfism and sterility and substantially reverses the biochemical phenotypes of ref8 plants, including the reduction of lignin content and hyperaccumulation of flavonoids and p-coumarate esters. Induction of C3′H expression at different developmental stages has distinct impacts on plant growth. Although early induction effectively restored the elongation of primary inflorescence stem, application to 7-week-old plants enabled them to produce new rosette inflorescence stems. Examination of hypocotyls of these plants revealed normal vasculature in the newly formed secondary xylem, presumably restoring water transport in the mutant. The ref8 mutant accumulates higher levels of salicylic acid than the wild type, but depletion of this compound in ref8 did not relieve the mutant’s growth defects, suggesting that the hyperaccumulation of salicylic acid is unlikely to be responsible for dwarfism in this mutant.

Tissue specific specialization of the nanoscale architecture of Arabidopsis.

The Arabidopsis stem is composed of five tissues - the pith, xylem, phloem, cortex and epidermis - each of which fulfills specific roles in support of the growth and survival of the organism. The lignocellulosic scaffolding of cell walls is specialized to provide optimal support for the diverse functional roles of these layers, but little is known about this specialization. X-ray scattering can be used to study this tissue-specific diversity because the cellulosic components of the cell walls give rise to recognizable scattering features interpretable in terms of the underlying molecular architecture and distinct from the largely unoriented scatter from other constituents. Here we use scanning X-ray microdiffraction from thin sections to characterize the diversity of molecular architecture in the Arabidopsis stem and correlate that diversity to the functional roles the distinct tissues of the stem play in the growth and survival of the organism.

Genetic engineering of Arabidopsis to overproduce disinapoyl esters, potential lignin modification molecules

BackgroundMonolignol-like molecules can be integrated into lignin along with conventional monolignol units, and it has been shown that the incorporation of non-canonical subunits can be used to generate hydrolysable lignin by introduction of ester linkages into the polymer and that this type of lignin is more easily removable. Disinapoyl esters (DSEs), which to some degree resemble the monolignol sinapyl alcohol, may be promising lignin modifying units for this purpose. As a first step toward determining whether this goal is achievable, we manipulated metabolic flux in Arabidopsis to increase the amounts of DSEs by overexpressing sinapoylglucose:sinapoylglucose sinapoyltransferase (SST) which produces two main DSEs, 1,2-disinapoylglucose, and another compound we identify in this report as 3,4-disinapoyl-fructopyranose.ResultsWe succeeded in overproducing DSEs by introducing an SST-overexpression construct into the sinapoylglucose accumulator1 (sng1-6) mutant (SST-OE sng1-6) which lacks several of the enzymes that would otherwise compete for the SST substrate, sinapoyglucose. Introduction of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase-c (cad-c) and cad-d mutations into the SST-OE sng1-6 line further increased DSEs. Surprisingly, a reduced epidermal fluorescence (ref) phenotype was observed when SST-OE sng1-6 plants were evaluated under UV light, which appears to have been induced by the sequestration of DSEs into subvacuolar compartments. Although we successfully upregulated the accumulation of the target DSEs, we did not find any evidence showing the integration of DSEs into the cell wall.ConclusionsOur results suggest that although phenylpropanoid metabolic engineering is possible, a deeper understanding of sequestration and transport mechanisms will be necessary for successful lignin engineering through this route.