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Molecular Plant Advance Access originally published online on July 17, 2009
Molecular Plant 2009 2(5):966-976; doi:10.1093/mp/ssp050
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© The Author 2009. Published by the Molecular Plant Shanghai Editorial Office in association with Oxford University Press on behalf of CSPP and IPPE, SIBS, CAS.

Arabinan Metabolism during Seed Development and Germination in Arabidopsis

Leonardo D. Gomez, Clare G. Steele-King, Louise Jones, Jonathan M. Foster, Supachai Vuttipongchaikij and Simon J. McQueen-Mason1

CNAP, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, United Kingdom

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail smm1{at}york.ac.uk, fax + 44 (0) 1904 328786, tel. + 44 (0) 1904 328775

Arabinans are found in the pectic network of many cell walls, where, along with galactan, they are present as side chains of Rhamnogalacturonan l. Whilst arabinans have been reported to be abundant polymers in the cell walls of seeds from a range of plant species, their proposed role as a storage reserve has not been thoroughly investigated. In the cell walls of Arabidopsis seeds, arabinose accounts for approximately 40% of the monosaccharide composition of non-cellulosic polysaccharides of embryos. Arabinose levels decline to ~15% during seedling establishment, indicating that cell wall arabinans may be mobilized during germination. Immunolocalization of arabinan in embryos, seeds, and seedlings reveals that arabinans accumulate in developing and mature embryos, but disappear during germination and seedling establishment. Experiments using 14C-arabinose show that it is readily incorporated and metabolized in growing seedlings, indicating an active catabolic pathway for this sugar. We found that depleting arabinans in seeds using a fungal arabinanase causes delayed seedling growth, lending support to the hypothesis that these polymers may help fuel early seedling growth.

Key Words: Cell walls • development • embryogenesis and seed development • Arabidopsis • arabinan • arabinose carbohydrate metabolism • physiology of plant growth


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