Cell wall mechanics and growth control in plants: the role of pectins revisited

Alexis Peaucelle (1, 2) , Siobhan A. Braybrook (3) , Hermanus Höfte (1)

1 IJPB - Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin
2 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes
3 Institute of Plant Sciences

How is the extensibility of growing plant cell walls regulated? In the past, most studies have focused on the role of the cellulose/xyloglucan network and the enigmatic wall-loosening agents expansins. Here we review first how in the closest relatives of the land plants, the Charophycean algae, cell wall synthesis is coupled to cell wall extensibility by a chemical Ca(2+)-exchange mechanism between Ca(2+)-pectate complexes. We next discuss evidence for the existence in terrestrial plants of a similar "primitive" Ca(2+)-pectate-based growth control mechanism in parallel to the more recent, land plant-specific, expansin-dependent process.

Mots clés: pectin; pectinmethylesterase; wallextensibility; Characorallina

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Alexis Peaucelle, Siobhan A. Braybrook, Hermanus Höfte. Cell wall mechanics and growth control in plants: the role of pectins revisited. Frontiers in Plant Science, 2012, 3, pp.1-6. ⟨10.3389/fpls.2012.00121⟩. ⟨hal-01203961⟩