@article{RuzanskiSmirnovaRejzeketal.2013,
  author    = {Ruzanski, Christian and Smirnova, Julia and Rejzek, Martin and Cockburn, Darrell and Pedersen, Henriette L. and Pike, Marilyn and Willats, William G. T. and Svensson, Birte and Steup, Martin and Ebenh{\"o}h, Oliver and Smith, Alison M. and Field, Robert A.},
  title     = {A bacterial glucanotransferase can replace the complex maltose metabolism required for starch to sucrose conversion in leaves at night},
  series = {The journal of biological chemistry},
  volume    = {288},
  journal   = {The journal of biological chemistry},
  number    = {40},
  publisher = {American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology},
  address   = {Bethesda},
  issn      = {0021-9258},
  doi       = {10.1074/jbc.M113.497867},
  pages     = {28581 -- 28598},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Controlled conversion of leaf starch to sucrose at night is essential for the normal growth of Arabidopsis. The conversion involves the cytosolic metabolism of maltose to hexose phosphates via an unusual, multidomain protein with 4-glucanotransferase activity, DPE2, believed to transfer glucosyl moieties to a complex heteroglycan prior to their conversion to hexose phosphate via a cytosolic phosphorylase. The significance of this complex pathway is unclear; conversion of maltose to hexose phosphate in bacteria proceeds via a more typical 4-glucanotransferase that does not require a heteroglycan acceptor. It has recently been suggested that DPE2 generates a heterogeneous series of terminal glucan chains on the heteroglycan that acts as a glucosyl buffer to ensure a constant rate of sucrose synthesis in the leaf at night. Alternatively, DPE2 and/or the heteroglycan may have specific properties important for their function in the plant. To distinguish between these ideas, we compared the properties of DPE2 with those of the Escherichia coli glucanotransferase MalQ. We found that MalQ cannot use the plant heteroglycan as an acceptor for glucosyl transfer. However, experimental and modeling approaches suggested that it can potentially generate a glucosyl buffer between maltose and hexose phosphate because, unlike DPE2, it can generate polydisperse malto-oligosaccharides from maltose. Consistent with this suggestion, MalQ is capable of restoring an essentially wild-type phenotype when expressed in mutant Arabidopsis plants lacking DPE2. In light of these findings, we discuss the possible evolutionary origins of the complex DPE2-heteroglycan pathway.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{RajasundaramRunavotGuoetal.2014,
  author    = {Rajasundaram, Dhivyaa and Runavot, Jean-Luc and Guo, Xiaoyuan and Willats, William G. T. and Meulewaeter, Frank and Selbig, Joachim},
  title     = {Understanding the relationship between cotton fiber properties and non-cellulosic cell wall polysaccharides},
  series = {PLoS one},
  volume    = {9},
  journal   = {PLoS one},
  number    = {11},
  publisher = {PLoS},
  address   = {San Fransisco},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0112168},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {A detailed knowledge of cell wall heterogeneity and complexity is crucial for understanding plant growth and development. One key challenge is to establish links between polysaccharide-rich cell walls and their phenotypic characteristics. It is of particular interest for some plant material, like cotton fibers, which are of both biological and industrial importance. To this end, we attempted to study cotton fiber characteristics together with glycan arrays using regression based approaches. Taking advantage of the comprehensive microarray polymer profiling technique (CoMPP), 32 cotton lines from different cotton species were studied. The glycan array was generated by sequential extraction of cell wall polysaccharides from mature cotton fibers and screening samples against eleven extensively characterized cell wall probes. Also, phenotypic characteristics of cotton fibers such as length, strength, elongation and micronaire were measured. The relationship between the two datasets was established in an integrative manner using linear regression methods. In the conducted analysis, we demonstrated the usefulness of regression based approaches in establishing a relationship between glycan measurements and phenotypic traits. In addition, the analysis also identified specific polysaccharides which may play a major role during fiber development for the final fiber characteristics. Three different regression methods identified a negative correlation between micronaire and the xyloglucan and homogalacturonan probes. Moreover, homogalacturonan and callose were shown to be significant predictors for fiber length. The role of these polysaccharides was already pointed out in previous cell wall elongation studies. Additional relationships were predicted for fiber strength and elongation which will need further experimental validation.},
  language  = {en}
}