Unraveling the functions of glycosyltransferase family 47 in plants

The function of glycosyltransferases (GTs) from family GT47 was first identified in animal exostosins as beta-glucuronyltransferase involved in the synthesis of heparan sulfate. Two recent papers report the functions of two plant members in this family as a pectin beta-glucuronyltransferase and a xyloglucan beta-galactosyltransferase. These findings greatly extend our understanding of the biological functions of family GT47 and also represent an important leap toward the molecular dissection of cell wall biosynthesis.