Abstract:

Cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide in nature, which accounts for more than 50% of the carbon content in the plant kingdom. Cellulose is the main cell wall content in plants and plays a key role in weight bearing. The synthesis of cellulose is catalyzed by cellulose synthase components (CSCs) in the plasma membrane. The research advances on the type, structure, transcriptional regulation of CESA, and the structure, assembly, and traffic of CSCs were reviewed here. The plant cell wall was classified into the primary cell wall and the secondary cell wall. The CSCs involved in cellulose synthesis in different cell wall types are different. The proportion of CESAs in the CSCs varies according to the species. CESA stoichiometry occurs in equimolar amounts in the majority of plants, while in aspen tension wood the secondary cell wall CESA stoichiometry changed to 8∶3∶1. CSCs assemble in the Golgi and are secreted to the plasma membrane through the trans-Golgi network (TGN) compartment. The abundance and distribution of CSCs in the plasma membrane largely determine the oriented deposition of cellulose. Many key genes were found interacting with special CESA to recognize and regulate CSCs traffic. Plant hormones, such as brassinosteroids, can control the cellulose synthesis by regulating the expression of CESAs. In the future, gene-editing technology can be used to further work on CESA function, CSCs structure model, CESA stoichiometry in CSCs, the relationship between assembly and transport and cellulose synthesis speed in CSCs, and the transcriptional regulation of CESA to improve the regulation mechanisms of plant cellulose synthesis.

Key words: cellulose, cellulose synthase (CESA), cellulose synthase components, interacting genes