2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Molecular mechanism of cell wall formation in woody plant under mechanical environments

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21658065
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Wood science
Research Institution	Chiba Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator	WATANABE Ugai 千葉工業大学, 工学部, 准教授 (70337707)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Keywords	森林工学 / 遺伝子 / 細胞・組織
Research Abstract	In order to clarify the mechanism of cell wall formation in woody plants under mechanical environments, the expression of genes involved in the cell wall formation was analyzed using plant cultured cells mechanically loaded. The deposition of secondary metabolic substances in their cell walls was also observed. The expression of PAL gene in the plant cultured cells was upregulated by mechanical loading for relatively short time, but didn't depend on the stress applied. Although it was impossible to determine the gene expression of some transcription factors involved in secondary cell wall formation, the expression of MYB46 and KNAT7 genes increased in the cultured cells mechanically loaded for relatively long time. Lignin was detected in the plant cultured cells subjected to a static culture after mechanical loading.