Nat Plants.: co-auth.: GTF

Nat Plants. 2021 Mar 8. doi: 10.1038/s41477-021-00862-9. Online ahead of print.

GDSL-domain proteins have key roles in suberin polymerization and degradation

Robertas Ursache 1Cristovāo De Jesus Vieira Teixeira 2Valérie Dénervaud Tendon 3Kay Gully 3Damien De Bellis 3 4Emanuel Schmid-Siegert 5 6Tonni Grube Andersen 3 7Vinay Shekhar 2 8Sandra Calderon 5 9Sylvain Pradervand 5 9Christiane Nawrath 3Niko Geldner 10Joop E M Vermeer 11 12Affiliations expand

Abstract

Plant roots acquire nutrients and water while managing interactions with the soil microbiota. The root endodermis provides an extracellular diffusion barrier through a network of lignified cell walls called Casparian strips, supported by subsequent formation of suberin lamellae. Whereas lignification is thought to be irreversible, suberin lamellae display plasticity, which is crucial for root adaptative responses. Although suberin is a major plant polymer, fundamental aspects of its biosynthesis and turnover have remained obscure. Plants shape their root system via lateral root formation, an auxin-induced process requiring local breaking and re-sealing of endodermal lignin and suberin barriers. Here, we show that differentiated endodermal cells have a specific, auxin-mediated transcriptional response dominated by cell wall remodelling genes. We identified two sets of auxin-regulated GDSL lipases. One is required for suberin synthesis, while the other can drive suberin degradation. These enzymes have key roles in suberization, driving root suberin plasticity.