[Seminars] PSB event reminder
contact at psb.vib-ugent.be
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Tue Mar 12 12:10:02 CET 2013
Calendar Name: seminars
Scheduled for: Tuesday, March 12 2013, 14:00 - 15:30
Event text: Dr Staffan Persson
Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology
Potsdam
GERMANY
Details: A blueprint for cellulose synthesis in higher plants
ABSTRACT
Cellulose is one of the most abundant and important
biopolymer on our planet. It provides rigidity for
anisotropic cell growth and plant morphology, and
constitutes an essential raw material for many important
industrial applications, including biofuels and
materials. Cellulose is synthesized by plasma membrane
located cellulose synthase (CesA) proteins that track
along cortical microtubules in elongating interphase
cells. We discovered the protein (CSI1/POM2) that
provides the functional link between the CesAs and the
microtubules. This discovery was partly based on the
similar expression, or co-expression of the CSI1/POM2
gene and the CesA genes. Interestingly, we have found
that many genes that are co-expressed with the CesA
genes indeed are important for cellulose production. We
extended this analysis and found that certain patterns
of functionally related genes formed co-expressed gene
modules, and that these modules have been duplicated and
subsequently sub-functionalized many times. Through
evolutionary estimates we could furthermore conclude
that these duplication events were associated with
specific events during plant evolution. We propose that
plants use the duplication of co-expressed gene modules
to create new functions through neo- or
sub-functionalization of members in the modules, and
that this may serve as a basis for the development of
new biological processes in plants.
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