Recognizing The Plant Cell first authors: Lanjun Zhang
Lanjun Zhang, first author of Arabinosyl deacetylase modulates the arabinoxylan acetylation profile and secondary wall formation
Current Position: Research Associate, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Education: Ph.D. in Genetics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; B.S. in Developmental biology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Non-scientific Interests: Travelling, classic music, and documentaries
Brief bio: I am interested in how plants assemble cell walls in responses to internal and external clues. Thus, I started the Ph. D. study in Prof. Yihua Zhou’s Laboratory since 2012. Given the importance of acetylation modification on polysaccharide properties and functions, I am engaged in investigating the molecular mechanism of how the acetylation pattern on polysaccharides is established. Through the great efforts of our team, we identified BS1, a GDSL esterase that removes acetyl groups from rice xylan backbone. After graduation, I continued the studies in Prof. Zhou’s lab. In the current paper, we identified another GDSL esterase DARX1, which has a novel enzymatic activity and acts as arabinosyl deacetylase on arabinoxylan side chain. Genetic and biochemical evidence revealed that this protein is important for determining arabinoxylan conformation, thereby affecting cellulose microfibril orientation and secondary wall structure. This finding adds further dimension to understanding of how the acetylation pattern on arabinoxylan is established and provides a strategy to breed robust elite crops.
论文： Arabinosyl deacetylase modulates the arabinoxylan acetylation profile and secondary wall formation
第一作者：张兰军
教育经历：中国科学院大学，遗传学，博士；中国科学院大学，发育生物学，硕士
兴趣爱好：旅行、古典音乐和纪录片
科研经历简介：
我一直对植物细胞壁领域非常感兴趣，对细胞壁形成及其信号转导等问题有着深入探究的兴致。2012年，我有幸进入周奕华课题组攻读博士学位，在这里进行了细胞壁多糖乙酰化修饰机制的研究。在团队的努力下，我们鉴定了一个GDSL酯酶BS1，可以在水稻阿拉伯木聚糖主链上去除乙酰基。博士毕业之后，我留在研究组继续相关研究。在这篇工作中，我们功能鉴定了另一个GDSL酯酶DARX1，它具有新的酶活特性，为木聚糖侧链的阿拉伯糖乙酰酯酶。进一步的遗传和生化证据表明，DARX1能调控阿拉伯木聚糖构象，进而影响纤维素微纤丝排布和细胞壁结构与功能。本研究揭示了一种新的木聚糖侧链去乙酰化调控机制，为水稻分子育种改良提供理论依据。
