Galacturonosyltransferase 4 silencing alters pectin composition and carbon partitioning in tomato.

ABSTRACT: Pectin is a main component of the plant cell wall and is the most complex family of polysaccharides in nature. Its composition is essential for the normal growth and morphology pattern, as demonstrated by pectin-defective mutant phenotypes. Besides this basic role in plant physiology, in tomato, pectin structure contributes to very important quality traits such as fruit firmness. Sixty-seven different enzymatic activities have been suggested to be required for pectin biosynthesis, but only a few genes have been identified and studied so far. This study characterized the tomato galacturonosyltransferase (GAUT) family and performed a detailed functional study of the GAUT4 gene. The tomato genome harbours all genes orthologous to those described previously in Arabidopsis thaliana, and a trans

SUBMITTER: de Godoy F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3654432 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature