Our collaborative work with Prof. Staffan Person at the University of Copenhagen to which Eduardo made important contributions is now available online at PNAS.

Cell walls are essential to cell morphogenesis, to protect plants against environmental stress, and for an array of products in our daily life. Pectins are essential components of plant cell walls that govern important agricultural characteristics, such as plant growth and development, fruit ripening, and seed pod shattering. In this study, we outline how a family of unknown proteins function as a scaffold for key synthesis components of pectin, a central cell wall polymer. Our results thus define a robust pectin synthesis protein complex that is essential for the structure and function of Golgi and for plant tissue integrity. These results add critical information regarding pectin synthesis and cell wall metabolons.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2321759121

Eskandar’s spotlight review on the recent characterization of a non-canonical mechanism of cellulose synthase trafficking and regulation is now online with Trends in Plant Science.

This paper highlights Liu et al. 2023 Nature Communications and discusses the implications of these findings for our understanding of the regulation of cellulose synthesis via post-Golgi trafficking.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.02.014

Larissa’s MSc work is now published in Trees.  Larissa was cosupervised by Heather, Antanas Spokevicius and Gerd Bossinger at the University of Melbourne.

When trees encounter physical stress, such as bending due to gravity or wind, they make a special kind of cell wall, called reaction wood, which can affect commercially-relevant properties of the wood. Larissa’s work investigated how microtubules and cellulose are reoriented during reaction wood formation in three economically important trees: poplar, pine, and eucalyptus. She found intriguing similarities and differences between these species that builds a more nuanced understanding of reaction wood formation.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-024-02497-7