The CER3 wax biosynthetic gene from Arabidopsis thaliana is allelic to WAX2/YRE/FLP1

The cuticle coats the aerial organs of land plants and is composed of a cutin matrix embedded and overlayed with waxes. The Arahidopsis CER3 gene is important for cuticular wax biosynthesis and was reported to correspond to At5g02310 encoding an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Here, we demonstrate that CER3 is not At5g02310 and instead corresponds to WAX21 YREIFLPI (At5g57800), a gene of unknown function required for wax biosynthesis. CER3 protein has also been implicated in cutin production because strong cer-3 alleles display organ fusions. Leaf cutin analysis of two cei-3 alleles did not reveal significant differences in cutin load or composition, indicating that CER3 has no major role in leaf cutin formation. (c) 2007 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.