Overexpression of INCREASED CAMBIAL ACTIVITY, a putative methyltransferase, increases cambial activity and plant growth

Abstract

Cambial activity is a prerequisite for secondary growth in plants; however, regulatory factors controlling the activity of the secondary meristem in radial growth remain elusive. Here, we identified INCREASED CAMBIAL ACTIVITY (ICA), a gene encoding a putative pectin methyltransferase, which could function as a modulator for the meristematic activity of fascicular and interfascicular cambium in Arabidopsis. An overexpressing transgenic line, 35S::ICA, showed accelerated stem elongation and radial thickening, resulting in increased accumulation of biomass, and increased levels of cytokinins (CKs) and gibberellins (GAs). Expression of genes encoding pectin methylesterases involved in pectin modification together with pectin methyltransferases was highly induced in 35S::ICA, which might contribute to an increase of methanol emission as a byproduct in 35S::ICA. Methanol treatment induced the expression of GA‐ or CK‐responsive genes and stimulated plant growth. Overall, we propose that ectopic expression of ICA increases cambial activity by regulating CK and GA homeostasis, and methanol emission, eventually leading to stem elongation and radial growth in the inflorescence stem.

A potential candidate gene associated with the angles of the ear leaf and the second leaf above the ear leaf in maize

“…Previous studies had demonstrated that the overexpression of the AT5G40830 gene in Arabidopsis results in elevated levels of cytokinins (CKs) and gibberellins (GAs), leading to an increase in the number of xylem and bast cells in Arabidopsis inflorescence stems, without altering the cell volume. This ultimately leads to the elongation of Arabidopsis inflorescence stems and an increase in plant biomass [ 53 , 54 ]. Moreover, the overexpression of the AT5G40830 gene has been proposed to accelerate methanol production and release in plants.…”

Salicylic acid reduces the accumulation of aluminum in Panax notoginsen root cell wall pectin via the NO signaling pathway

“…PMT involved in plant CW related growth and development regulation has been reported (Kim et al 2016;Xu et al 2017;Miao et al 2011), but no research has shown that it is involved in plant stress tolerance. We also found that Al treatment or Al + SA/SNP treatment had no significant effect on the expression of PnPMT (Fig.…”