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PMID: 16980563 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

CER4 encodes an alcohol-forming fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase involved in cuticular wax production in Arabidopsis.

Plant physiology ·Vol. 142 ·No. 3 ·2006-11-00 ·Pages 866-77

Rowland O, Zheng H, Hepworth SR, Lam P, Jetter R, Kunst L

Abstract

A waxy cuticle that serves as a protective barrier against uncontrolled water loss and environmental damage coats the aerial surfaces of land plants. It is composed of a cutin polymer matrix and waxes. Cuticular waxes are complex mixtures of very-long-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We report here the molecular cloning and characterization of CER4, a wax biosynthetic gene from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Arabidopsis cer4 mutants exhibit major decreases in stem primary alcohols and wax esters, and slightly elevated levels of aldehydes, alkanes, secondary alcohols, and ketones. This phenotype suggested that CER4 encoded an alcohol-forming fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase (FAR). We identified eight FAR-like genes in Arabidopsis that are highly related to an alcohol-forming FAR expressed in seeds of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis). Molecular characterization of CER4 alleles and genomic complementation revealed that one of these eight genes, At4g33790, encoded the FAR required for cuticular wax production. Expression of CER4 cDNA in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) resulted in the accumulation of C24:0 and C26:0 primary alcohols. Fully functional green fluorescent protein-tagged CER4 protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast cells by confocal microscopy. Analysis of gene expression by reverse transcription-PCR indicated that CER4 was expressed in leaves, stems, flowers, siliques, and roots. Expression of a beta-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the CER4 promoter in transgenic plants was detected in epidermal cells of leaves and stems, consistent with a dedicated role for CER4 in cuticular wax biosynthesis. CER4 was also expressed in all cell types in the elongation zone of young roots. These data indicate that CER4 is an alcohol-forming FAR that has specificity for very-long-chain fatty acids and is responsible for the synthesis of primary alcohols in the epidermal cells of aerial tissues and in roots.

MeSH Terms
Alcohols/metabolism Aldehyde Oxidoreductases/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Amino Acid Sequence Arabidopsis/enzymology Arabidopsis Proteins/chemistry,metabolism Flowers Gene Expression Regulation, Plant Molecular Sequence Data Plant Epidermis/metabolism Waxes/metabolism
Chemicals
Alcohols Arabidopsis Proteins Waxes Aldehyde Oxidoreductases CER4 protein, Arabidopsis hexadecanal dehydrogenase (acylating)
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Rowland Owen
Department of Botany , University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z1.
Zheng Huanquan
Hepworth Shelley R
Lam Patricia
Jetter Reinhard
Kunst Ljerka
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Article Info
Journal
Plant physiology
Abbr.
Plant Physiol
ISSN
0032-0889
DOI
10.1104/pp.106.086785
Published
2006-11-00
Epub
2006-00-15
Pages
866-77
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0401224
PMCID
PMC1630741
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1104/pp.106.086785 PMC Full Text View journal details
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