Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Cell Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 21171

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Universidad de León, 24007 Leon, Spain
Interests: plant biotechnology; cell culture; cell wall; plant biology; plant genetics; plant breeding; plant defense; plant physiology; polymers; biotechnology

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Guest Editor
Centro de Biotecnología Vegetal, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago 8370186, Chile
Interests: plant biotechnology; genetics; gene regulation; molecular biology; PCR; cell wall; plant breeding; plant genetics; plant biology; plant physiology; biochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The plant cell wall is a structure mainly made of complex polysaccharides with multiple interactions that conform to a network, which is extremely resistant. The acquisition of this structure allowed plants to colonize the land and acquire the typical erect plant appearance that allows them to grow taller to ensure the absorption of sunlight. Among other important functions, such as plant growth and defense, the transport of water and nutrients throughout the plant would not be possible without cell walls.

The cell wall is composed of cellulose, the most abundant and resistant polysaccharide on earth. This cellulose scaffold is involved in a matrix made of polysaccharides such as pectins and hemicelluloses, whose type and proportions vary depending on species, tissues and also cell types. The deposition of lignin—the second most abundant polymer on earth—into secondary cell walls increases the cell wall resistance, producing growth cessation. All these polymers are crosslinked into the wall in a process that can occur naturally and/or by the action of different modifying enzymes. The control of the synthesis of the cell wall components and/or the interactions among them gives this structure a high plasticity, which is a key factor in the modulation of the growth and defense responses under different stresses.

This Special Issue focuses on deepening the knowledge of the cell wall plasticity under different stress situations, paying attention to the main polymers and their interactions. Contributions from different points of view are welcome, including biochemistry, plant physiology, crop breeding, environmental adaptation, molecular biology, hormone effect, evolution and biotic and abiotic stresses.

Dr. Penélope García-Angulo
Dr. Asier Largo-Gosens
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Abiotic stress
  • Biotic stress
  • Cell wall enzymes
  • Cell wall functions
  • Cell wall plasticity
  • Cell wall polymers
  • Crosslinking

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 199 KiB  
Editorial
Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations
by Penélope García-Angulo and Asier Largo-Gosens
Plants 2022, 11(20), 2752; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants11202752 - 18 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1073
Abstract
This Special Issue, entitled “Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations”, is a compilation of five articles, whose authors deepen our understanding of the roles of different cell wall components under biotic and abiotic stress [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)

Research

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22 pages, 3087 KiB  
Article
With a Little Help from My Cell Wall: Structural Modifications in Pectin May Play a Role to Overcome Both Dehydration Stress and Fungal Pathogens
by Ariana D. Forand, Y. Zou Finfrock, Miranda Lavier, Jarvis Stobbs, Li Qin, Sheng Wang, Chithra Karunakaran, Yangdou Wei, Supratim Ghosh and Karen K. Tanino
Plants 2022, 11(3), 385; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants11030385 - 30 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3976
Abstract
Cell wall structural modifications through pectin cross-linkages between calcium ions and/or boric acid may be key to mitigating dehydration stress and fungal pathogens. Water loss was profiled in a pure pectin system and in vivo. While calcium and boron reduced water loss in [...] Read more.
Cell wall structural modifications through pectin cross-linkages between calcium ions and/or boric acid may be key to mitigating dehydration stress and fungal pathogens. Water loss was profiled in a pure pectin system and in vivo. While calcium and boron reduced water loss in pure pectin standards, the impact on Allium species was insignificant (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, synchrotron X-ray microscopy showed the localization of exogenously applied calcium to the apoplast in the epidermal cells of Allium fistulosum. Exogenous calcium application increased viscosity and resistance to shear force in Allium fistulosum, suggesting the formation of calcium cross-linkages (“egg-box” structures). Moreover, Allium fistulosum (freezing tolerant) was also more tolerant to dehydration stress compared to Allium cepa (freezing sensitive). Furthermore, the addition of boric acid (H3BO3) to pure pectin reduced water loss and increased viscosity, which indicates the formation of RG-II dimers. The Arabidopsis boron transport mutant, bor1, expressed greater water loss and, based on the lesion area of leaf tissue, a greater susceptibility to Colletotrichum higginsianum and Botrytis cinerea. While pectin modifications in the cell wall are likely not the sole solution to dehydration and biotic stress resistance, they appear to play an important role against multiple stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)
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25 pages, 2344 KiB  
Article
Immune Priming Triggers Cell Wall Remodeling and Increased Resistance to Halo Blight Disease in Common Bean
by Alfonso Gonzalo De la Rubia, Hugo Mélida, María Luz Centeno, Antonio Encina and Penélope García-Angulo
Plants 2021, 10(8), 1514; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10081514 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2665
Abstract
The cell wall (CW) is a dynamic structure extensively remodeled during plant growth and under stress conditions, however little is known about its roles during the immune system priming, especially in crops. In order to shed light on such a process, we used [...] Read more.
The cell wall (CW) is a dynamic structure extensively remodeled during plant growth and under stress conditions, however little is known about its roles during the immune system priming, especially in crops. In order to shed light on such a process, we used the Phaseolus vulgaris-Pseudomonas syringae (Pph) pathosystem and the immune priming capacity of 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA). In the first instance we confirmed that INA-pretreated plants were more resistant to Pph, which was in line with the enhanced production of H2O2 of the primed plants after elicitation with the peptide flg22. Thereafter, CWs from plants subjected to the different treatments (non- or Pph-inoculated on non- or INA-pretreated plants) were isolated to study their composition and properties. As a result, the Pph inoculation modified the bean CW to some extent, mostly the pectic component, but the CW was as vulnerable to enzymatic hydrolysis as in the case of non-inoculated plants. By contrast, the INA priming triggered a pronounced CW remodeling, both on the cellulosic and non-cellulosic polysaccharides, and CW proteins, which resulted in a CW that was more resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusion, the increased bean resistance against Pph produced by INA priming can be explained, at least partially, by a drastic CW remodeling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)
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14 pages, 1545 KiB  
Article
Evolutionary Implications of a Peroxidase with High Affinity for Cinnamyl Alcohols from Physcomitrium patens, a Non-Vascular Plant
by Teresa Martínez-Cortés, Federico Pomar and Esther Novo-Uzal
Plants 2021, 10(7), 1476; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10071476 - 19 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2214
Abstract
Physcomitrium (Physcomitrella) patens is a bryophyte highly tolerant to different stresses, allowing survival when water supply is a limiting factor. This moss lacks a true vascular system, but it has evolved a primitive water-conducting system that contains lignin-like polyphenols. By means of a [...] Read more.
Physcomitrium (Physcomitrella) patens is a bryophyte highly tolerant to different stresses, allowing survival when water supply is a limiting factor. This moss lacks a true vascular system, but it has evolved a primitive water-conducting system that contains lignin-like polyphenols. By means of a three-step protocol, including ammonium sulfate precipitation, adsorption chromatography on phenyl Sepharose and cationic exchange chromatography on SP Sepharose, we were able to purify and further characterize a novel class III peroxidase, PpaPrx19, upregulated upon salt and H2O2 treatments. This peroxidase, of a strongly basic nature, shows surprising homology to angiosperm peroxidases related to lignification, despite the lack of true lignins in P. patens cell walls. Moreover, PpaPrx19 shows catalytic and kinetic properties typical of angiosperm peroxidases involved in oxidation of monolignols, being able to efficiently use hydroxycinnamyl alcohols as substrates. Our results pinpoint the presence in P. patens of peroxidases that fulfill the requirements to be involved in the last step of lignin biosynthesis, predating the appearance of true lignin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)
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22 pages, 3461 KiB  
Communication
Plant Cell Wall Hydration and Plant Physiology: An Exploration of the Consequences of Direct Effects of Water Deficit on the Plant Cell Wall
by David Stuart Thompson and Azharul Islam
Plants 2021, 10(7), 1263; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10071263 - 22 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3627
Abstract
The extensibility of synthetic polymers is routinely modulated by the addition of lower molecular weight spacing molecules known as plasticizers, and there is some evidence that water may have similar effects on plant cell walls. Furthermore, it appears that changes in wall hydration [...] Read more.
The extensibility of synthetic polymers is routinely modulated by the addition of lower molecular weight spacing molecules known as plasticizers, and there is some evidence that water may have similar effects on plant cell walls. Furthermore, it appears that changes in wall hydration could affect wall behavior to a degree that seems likely to have physiological consequences at water potentials that many plants would experience under field conditions. Osmotica large enough to be excluded from plant cell walls and bacterial cellulose composites with other cell wall polysaccharides were used to alter their water content and to demonstrate that the relationship between water potential and degree of hydration of these materials is affected by their composition. Additionally, it was found that expansins facilitate rehydration of bacterial cellulose and cellulose composites and cause swelling of plant cell wall fragments in suspension and that these responses are also affected by polysaccharide composition. Given these observations, it seems probable that plant environmental responses include measures to regulate cell wall water content or mitigate the consequences of changes in wall hydration and that it may be possible to exploit such mechanisms to improve crop resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)
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Review

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22 pages, 1050 KiB  
Review
Emerging Roles of β-Glucanases in Plant Development and Adaptative Responses
by Thomas Perrot, Markus Pauly and Vicente Ramírez
Plants 2022, 11(9), 1119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants11091119 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 5257
Abstract
Plant β-glucanases are enzymes involved in the synthesis, remodelling and turnover of cell wall components during multiple physiological processes. Based on the type of the glycoside bond they cleave, plant β-glucanases have been grouped into three categories: (i) β-1,4-glucanases degrade cellulose and other [...] Read more.
Plant β-glucanases are enzymes involved in the synthesis, remodelling and turnover of cell wall components during multiple physiological processes. Based on the type of the glycoside bond they cleave, plant β-glucanases have been grouped into three categories: (i) β-1,4-glucanases degrade cellulose and other polysaccharides containing 1,4-glycosidic bonds to remodel and disassemble the wall during cell growth. (ii) β-1,3-glucanases are responsible for the mobilization of callose, governing the symplastic trafficking through plasmodesmata. (iii) β-1,3-1,4-glucanases degrade mixed linkage glucan, a transient wall polysaccharide found in cereals, which is broken down to obtain energy during rapid seedling growth. In addition to their roles in the turnover of self-glucan structures, plant β-glucanases are crucial in regulating the outcome in symbiotic and hostile plant–microbe interactions by degrading non-self glucan structures. Plants use these enzymes to hydrolyse β-glucans found in the walls of microbes, not only by contributing to a local antimicrobial defence barrier, but also by generating signalling glucans triggering the activation of global responses. As a counterpart, microbes developed strategies to hijack plant β-glucanases to their advantage to successfully colonize plant tissues. This review outlines our current understanding on plant β-glucanases, with a particular focus on the latest advances on their roles in adaptative responses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cell Wall Plasticity under Stress Situations)
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