Feeding the Walls: How Does Nutrient Availability Regulate Cell Wall Composition?

Abstract

Nutrients are critical for plants to grow and develop, and nutrient depletion severely affects crop yield. In order to optimize nutrient acquisition, plants adapt their growth and root architecture. Changes in growth are determined by modifications in the cell walls surrounding every plant cell. The plant cell wall, which is largely composed of complex polysaccharides, is essential for plants to attain their shape and to protect cells against the environment. Within the cell wall, cellulose strands form microfibrils that act as a framework for other wall components, including hemicelluloses, pectins, proteins, and, in some cases, callose, lignin, and suberin. Cell wall composition varies, depending on cell and tissue type. It is governed by synthesis, deposition and remodeling of wall components, and determines the physical and structural properties of the cell wall. How nutrient status affects cell wall synthesis and organization, and thus plant growth and morphology, remains poorly understood. In this review, we aim to summarize and synthesize research on the adaptation of root cell walls in response to nutrient availability and the potential role of cell walls in nutrient sensing.

Nitrate and Ammonium Affect the Overall Maize Response to Nitrogen Availability by Triggering Specific and Common Transcriptional Signatures in Roots

“…Accordingly, similar expression profiles have been recently evidenced in Arabidopsis [61] and rice [62], suggesting that cell wall remodeling might be important for the enhanced nitrate uptake and a correct plant growth. Nevertheless, the exact molecular mechanism by which the N status affects cell wall modelling is still unknown [63].…”

Metabolomic markers and physiological adaptations for high phosphate utilization efficiency in rice

“…Glucuronate is part of the myo-inositol/ascorbate metabolism ( Figure 6) and further metabolites of this pathway, galacturonate and dehydroascorbate-dimers, were detected as significant using ANOVA +LIMMA (Table 3), while both are just below the threshold of the cumulated ridge regression analysis. Glucuronate and galacturonate are precursors of an alternative biosynthetic pathway of vitamin C/ascorbate (Bulley & Laing, 2016) and of secondary cell wall pectins (Ogden, Hoefgen, Roessner, Persson, & Khan, 2018). Ascorbate is part of the ROS detoxification system in plants (Noctor & Foyer, 1998).…”

The Utilization of Vegetable and Fruit Wastes for Saccharomyces cerevisieae Cell Wall Based β-Glucan Production with Antioxidant Activity

“…The diff erence of the components contained in the fermentation medium will aff ect the fermentation process, especially in terms of the formation of cell wall components, therefore the biological activity of ß-glucan produced are diff erent (Rahar et al, 2011;Varelas et al, 2017). The main components that infl uence cell wall formation are carbon and nitrogen, which are often found in the form of carbohydrates and proteins (Ogden et al, 2018).…”