You’re invited to share the story of your research with the members of PLATO, the Participatory Learning and Teaching Organization, at PLATO’s “Frontiers in Life Sciences” seminar on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:30 PM starting September 24.  PLATO is a group of retirees who continue their life-long learning through a range of classes and seminars.  The Frontiers in Life Sciences seminar meets at Space Place in Villager Mall, 2300 South Park Street.   Hone your talents in sharing science with the public by giving an hour-long presentation and then leading a discussion and fielding questions.  PLATO members tend to be college-educated and highly motivated.

The series runs for 10 weeks from Sept 24 to November 26;  contact Tom Zinnen at zinnen@biotech.wisc.edu to sign up for a Wednesday convenient for you, or to suggest a colleague who might be enjoy the opportunity of presenting at Frontiers in Life Sciences.

The Plant Cell | June 2008 | Cavalier, David et al

Abstract 

Xyloglucans are the main hemicellulosic polysaccharides found in the primary cell walls of dicots and nongraminaceous monocots, where they are thought to interact with cellulose to form a three-dimensional network that functions as the principal load-bearing structure of the primary cell wall. To determine whether two Arabidopsis thaliana genes that encode xylosyltransferases, XXT1 and XXT2, are involved in xyloglucan biosynthesis in vivo and to determine how the plant cell wall is affected by the lack of expression of XXT1, XXT2, or both, we isolated and characterized xxt1 and xxt2 single and xxt1 xxt2 double T-DNA insertion mutants. Although the xxt1 and xxt2 mutants did not have a gross morphological phenotype, they did have a slight decrease in xyloglucan content and showed slightly altered distribution patterns for xyloglucan epitopes. More interestingly, the xxt1 xxt2 double mutant had aberrant root hairs and lacked detectable xyloglucan. The reduction of xyloglucan in the xxt2 mutant and the lack of detectable xyloglucan in the xxt1 xxt2 double mutant resulted in significant changes in the mechanical properties of these plants. We conclude that XXT1 and XXT2 encode xylosyltransferases that are required for xyloglucan biosynthesis. Moreover, the lack of detectable xyloglucan in the xxt1 xxt2 double mutant challenges conventional models of the plant primary cell wall.

Download the entire paper here.