Cell wall polysaccharide and glycoprotein content tracks growth-form diversity and an aridity gradient in the leaf-succulent genus Crassula

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Dokumenter

  • Fulltext

    Forlagets udgivne version, 28,7 MB, PDF-dokument

Cell wall traits are believed to be a key component of the succulent syndrome, an adaptive syndrome to drought, yet the variability of such traits remains largely unknown. In this study, we surveyed the leaf polysaccharide and glycoprotein composition in a wide sampling of Crassula species that occur naturally along an aridity gradient in southern Africa, and we interpreted its adaptive significance in relation to growth form and arid adaptation. To study the glycomic diversity, we sampled leaf material from 56 Crassula taxa and performed comprehensive microarray polymer profiling to obtain the relative content of cell wall polysaccharides and glycoproteins. This analysis was complemented by the determination of monosaccharide composition and immunolocalization in leaf sections using glycan-targeting antibodies. We found that compact and non-compact Crassula species occupy distinct phenotypic spaces in terms of leaf glycomics, particularly in regard to rhamnogalacturonan I, its arabinan side chains, and arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs). Moreover, these cell wall components also correlated positively with increasing aridity, which suggests that they are likely advantageous in terms of arid adaptation. These differences point to compact Crassula species having more elastic cell walls with plasticizing properties, which can be interpreted as an adaptation toward increased drought resistance. Furthermore, we report an intracellular pool of AGPs associated with oil bodies and calcium oxalate crystals, which could be a peculiarity of Crassula and could be linked to increased drought resistance. Our results indicate that glycomics may be underlying arid adaptation and drought resistance in succulent plants.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummere14007
TidsskriftPhysiologia Plantarum
Vol/bind175
Udgave nummer5
Antal sider22
ISSN0031-9317
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Amanda Whittaker (National Collection of Crassula Species), Paul Rees (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), and Urs Eggli (Sukkulenten-Sammlung Zürich) for providing plant material; and Sylwia Głazowska, Karen Stoltenberg Nissen, and Jeanett Hansen (PLEN, University of Copenhagen); and Jonathan Kendon and Meng Lu (RBG Kew), for invaluable assistance during laboratory work. The authors would also like to thank Sylwia Głazowska for providing feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript. The imaging instruments used in the current study belong to the Center for Advanced Bioimaging (CAB) at the University of Copenhagen.

Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie grant agreement No. 801199. This project has also been supported by the Grønt Udviklings‐ og Demonstrations Program (GUDP, GrræsProteinFoder Project). Jozef Mravec was supported by a grant from Slovak Academy of Sciences (project number IM‐2021‐23), and JH was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Physiologia Plantarum published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

ID: 366812334