The aerial surfaces of terrestrial plants are covered by a cuticular wax layer, which protects the plants from environmental stresses such as desiccation, high irradiance, and UV radiation. Cuticular wax deposition is regulated in an organ-specific manner; Arabidopsis stems have more than 10-fold higher wax loads than leaves. In this study, we found that WRINKLED4 (WRI4), encoding an AP2/ERF (ethylene-responsive factor) transcription factor (TF), is predominantly expressed in stem epidermis, is upregulated by salt stress, and is involved in activating cuticular wax biosynthesis in Arabidopsis stems. WRI4 harbors a transcriptional activation domain at its N-terminus, and fluorescent signals from a WRI4:eYFP construct were localized to the nuclei of tobacco leaf protoplasts. Deposition of epicuticular wax crystals on stems was reduced in wri4-1 and wri4-3 knockout mutants. Total wax loads were reduced by ~28% in wri4 stems but were not altered in wri4 siliques or leaves compared to the wild type. The levels of 29-carbon long alkanes, ketones, and secondary alcohols, which are the most abundant components of stem waxes, were significantly reduced in wri4 stems relative to the wild type. A transactivation assay in tobacco protoplasts and a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay showed that the expression of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase1 (LACS1), β-ketoacyl CoA reductase1 (KCR1), PASTICCINO2 (PAS2), trans-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase (ECR), and bifunctional wax synthase/acyl-CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (WSD1) is positively regulated by direct binding of WRI4 to their promoters. Taken together, these results suggest that WRI4 is a transcriptional activator that specifically controls cuticular wax biosynthesis in Arabidopsis stems.

Gloeophyllum trabeum is a potent filamentous fungus that rapidly decomposes lignocellulose. In the present study, we cloned the G. trabeum cel12a gene and expressed it in Pichia pastoris strain GS115. The purified recombinant GtCel12A exhibited high pH stability and very high specific enzymic activity against β-glucan (6546 U mg −1) and carboxymethyl cellulose (1129 U mg −1) compared to GtCel5B, endoglucanases from Trichoderma reesei, and other glycoside hydrolase family 12 (GH12) enzymes. GtCel12A exhibited high enzymic activity with regard to hydrogen peroxide-acetic acid (HPAC)-pretreated lignocellulose biomass, and produced cellobiose as a major product with a small quantity of glucose. In combination with commercial cellulase, this enzyme also showed synergistic effects of 14.5, 16.1, 29.0, and 13.4% on filter paper, HPAC-pretreated pine, corn stover, and rice straw, respectively. The acidic endoglucanase GtCel12A from G. trabeum is a promising tool that can be used in combination with cellulase against HPAC-pretreated lignocellulose.

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