Carbon supply and the regulation of cell wall synthesis

Abstract

All plant cells are surrounded by a cell wall that determines the directionality of cell growth and protects the cell against its environment. Plant cell walls are comprised primarily of polysaccharides and represent the largest sink for photosynthetically fixed carbon, both for individual plants and in the terrestrial biosphere as a whole. Cell wall synthesis is a highly complex process, involving multiple enzymes and metabolic intermediates, intracellular trafficking of proteins and cell wall precursors, assembly of the cell wall polymers into the extracellular matrix, re-modelling of polymers and their interactions, and re-cycling of cell wall sugars. In this review we explore how newly fixed carbon, in the form of UDP-glucose and other nucleotide sugars, contributes to the synthesis of cell wall polysaccharides, and how cell wall synthesis is influenced by the carbon status of the plant, with a focus on the model species Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).