Defining the role of cellulose synthase-like M genes in the plant cell wall
type: CreativeWork
description: The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled the rapid accumulation of genetic data in the 21st century, and this, coupled with a low sequencing budget, has led to over 500 sequenced genomes of plants currently. Genomic data and resources are now publicly available in databases and online sources, providing opportunities for using functional genomics to understand the role of genes of interest. The cellulose synthase-like M (CslM) subfamily is the latest identified member of the CesA superfamily. There are now 10 cellulose synthase-like subfamilies in plants with many of them implicated in the biosynthesis of the backbones of non-cellulosic polysaccharides in plant cell walls. However, the function of some subfamilies remains cryptic. Recent research proposes that CslM genes may have a role in the synthesis of type II arabinogalactan linkages of pectin RG-I or AGP (arabinogalactan proteins). However, the glycosylating sugar is unspecified. Previous studies have also shown that a subset of CslM genes, CslM2, adds a glucuronic acid to the C-3 position of triterpenoid aglycones during saponin biosynthesis in plants. However, this has not yet been investigated for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) saponins, which are steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGA). The work in this thesis has delved more into the role of tomato CslM genes in cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis and saponin glycosylation. Transcript analysis showed that both CslM1 and CslM2a have different patterns of expression in developmental tissues, however, both genes are active in young fruits and expressed poorly in mature fruits. Overexpression of CslM1 in transgenic tomato lines significantly increased the levels of galacturonic acid, galactose, and glucose in leaf tissues. However, CRISPR/Cas9 edited lines of CslM1 displayed no major phenotypic changes but showed a reduction in cellulose composition, which may be a pleiotropic effect. In contrast, CslM2a edited lines showed a striking male st…
abstract: The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled the rapid accumulation of genetic data in the 21st century, and this, coupled with a low sequencing budget, has led to over 500 sequenced genomes of plants currently. Genomic data and resources are now publicly available in databases and online sources, providing opportunities for using functional genomics to understand the role of genes of interest. The cellulose synthase-like M (CslM) subfamily is the latest identified member of the CesA superfamily. There are now 10 cellulose synthase-like subfamilies in plants with many of them implicated in the biosynthesis of the backbones of non-cellulosic polysaccharides in plant cell walls. However, the function of some subfamilies remains cryptic. Recent research proposes that CslM genes may have a role in the synthesis of type II arabinogalactan linkages of pectin RG-I or AGP (arabinogalactan proteins). However, the glycosylating sugar is unspecified. Previous studies have also shown that a subset of CslM genes, CslM2, adds a glucuronic acid to the C-3 position of triterpenoid aglycones during saponin biosynthesis in plants. However, this has not yet been investigated for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) saponins, which are steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGA). The work in this thesis has delved more into the role of tomato CslM genes in cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis and saponin glycosylation. Transcript analysis showed that both CslM1 and CslM2a have different patterns of expression in developmental tissues, however, both genes are active in young fruits and expressed poorly in mature fruits. Overexpression of CslM1 in transgenic tomato lines significantly increased the levels of galacturonic acid, galactose, and glucose in leaf tissues. However, CRISPR/Cas9 edited lines of CslM1 displayed no major phenotypic changes but showed a reduction in cellulose composition, which may be a pleiotropic effect. In contrast, CslM2a edited lines showed a striking male st…
author: Akomeah, Belinda
language: en
keywords: Cellulose synthase-like, CslM, CRISPR/Cas9, tapetum, pollen mother cell, tomatine
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:50Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/144842