A pectin methyltransferase modulates polysaccharide dynamics and interactions in Arabidopsis primary cell walls: Evidence from solid-state NMR

Plant cell walls contain cellulose embedded in matrix polysaccharides. Understanding carbohydrate structures and interactions is critical to the production of biofuel and biomaterials using these natural resources. Here we present a solid-state NMR study of cellulose and pectin in C-13-labeled cell walls of Arabidopsis wild-type and mutant plants. Using 1D C-13 and 2D C-13-C-13 correlation experiments, we detected a highly branched arabinan structure in qua2 and tsd2 samples, two allelic mutants for a pectin methyltransferase. Both mutants show close physical association between cellulose and the backbones of pectic homogalacturonan and rhamnogalacturonanI. Relaxation and dipolar order parameters revealed enhanced microsecond dynamics due to polymer disorder in the mutants, but restricted motional amplitudes due to tighter pectin-cellulose associations. These molecular data shed light on polymer structure and packing in these two pectin mutants, helping to elucidate how pectin could influence cell wall architecture at the nanoscale, cell wall mechanics, and plant growth.

Automated summary

This study used solid-state NMR to investigate the structure of cellulose and pectin in Arabidopsis plants, revealing a highly branched arabinan structure in pectin mutants and tighter associations between cellulose and pectin in the mutants. The findings shed light on polymer structure and packing in pectin mutants, providing insights into how pectin influences cell wall architecture, mechanics, and plant growth at the nanoscale.