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Home → Publications → Tree Improvement and Genetics → Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference → 31st Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference (2011) → Evolution, regulation, and manipulation of Populus tubulins: The usual suspect with unusual consequences

Evolution, regulation, and manipulation of Populus tubulins: The usual suspect with unusual consequences

Cortical microtubules are cytoskeletal components that have important roles in morphogenesis. Of particular relevance to the bioenergy and forest products industry is the postulated role of microtubules in orchestrating cellulose microfibril deposition during cell wall formation. The microtubule component proteins α- (TUA) and β-tubulins (TUB) are encoded by multi-gene families with very high overall sequence homology across species. We have previously characterized the spatiotemporal expression patterns of the Populus TUA and TUB families (Oakley et al. 2007). In addition to identifying several xylem-abundant and bending-responsive isoforms, we found unusual sequence heterogeneity at the C-termini, the post-translational modification (PTM) hot-spot in animal tubulins. To investigate tubulin function during wood formation, we developed a suite of transgenic Populus that exhibit perturbed TUA to TUB transcript ratios, or that express tubulin PTM mimics.


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Author(s): Prashant Swamy