Plant Cell Walls Tackling Climate Change: Biotechnological Strategies to Improve Crop Adaptations and Photosynthesis in Response to Global Warming

Abstract

Plant cell wall (CW) is a complex and intricate structure that performs several functions throughout the plant life cycle. The CW of plants is critical to the maintenance of cells' structural integrity by resisting internal hydrostatic pressures, providing flexibility to support cell division and expansion during tissue differentiation, and acting as an environmental barrier that protects the cells in response to abiotic stress. Plant CW, comprised primarily of polysaccharides, represents the largest sink for photosynthetically fixed carbon, both in plants and in the biosphere. The CW structure is highly varied, not only between plant species but also among different organs, tissues, and cell types in the same organism. During the developmental processes, the main CW components, i.e., cellulose, pectins, hemicelluloses, and different types of CW-glycoproteins, interact constantly with each other and with the environment to maintain cell homeostasis. Differentiation processes are altered by positional effect and are also tightly linked to environmental changes, affecting CW both at the molecular and biochemical levels. The negative effect of climate change on the environment is multifaceted, from high temperatures, altered concentrations of greenhouse gases such as increasing CO 2 in the atmosphere, soil salinity, and drought, to increasing frequency of extreme weather events taking place concomitantly, therefore, climate change affects crop productivity in multiple ways. Rising CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere is expected to increase photosynthetic rates, especially at high temperatures and under water-limited conditions. This review aims to synthesize current knowledge regarding the effects of climate change on CW biogenesis and modification. We discuss specific cases in crops of interest carrying cell wall modifications that enhance tolerance to climate change-related stresses; from cereals such as rice, wheat, barley, or maize to dicots of interest such as brassica oilseed, cotton, soybean, tomato, or potato. This information could be used for the rational design of genetic engineering traits that aim to increase the stress tolerance in key crops. Future growing conditions expose plants to variable and extreme climate change factors, which negatively impact global agriculture, and therefore further research in this area is critical.

Transcriptomic Response to Water Deficit Reveals a Crucial Role of Phosphate Acquisition in a Drought-Tolerant Common Bean Landrace

“…Cell wall remodeling under drought stress is a common response in plants [50,51]. The plant cell wall is a complex structure with critical functions in plant life.…”

Transcriptomic Leaf Profiling Reveals Differential Responses of the Two Most Traded Coffee Species to Elevated [CO2]

“…According to the overexpression of these genes in CL153, significant enriched GO terms were related to general biological processes as cell wall biogenesis, secondary metabolic processes, cell wall macromolecule metabolic processes, plant-type cell wall organization or biogenesis, and polysaccharide metabolic processes, as well as molecular functions linked with oxidoreductase and transferase activity ( Figure 5). Previous studies showed that eCO 2 alters plant structure by inducing changes in the rate of cell division and expansion, and in the accumulation of starch within chloroplasts to accomplish a higher photosynthetic rate, which are helped by a high activity of oxireductase and transferase genes [67,68]. Indeed, some components of the photosynthetic machinery in CL153 are up-regulated under eCO 2 , with starch usually increasing 69% under eCO 2 and showing the highest thylakoid electron transport capability among tested coffee genotypes [20].…”

Enhancing Salt Tolerance of Plants: From Metabolic Reprogramming to Exogenous Chemical Treatments and Molecular Approaches

“…The plant cell wall is a complex structure that executes many functions throughout the life cycle of a plant. The cell wall of plants is critically important to the maintenance of cell shape by resisting internal hydrostatic pressures and protecting the cells in responses to ESs [ 13 ]. Primary metabolites (PMs) are involved in plant growth and development, whereas secondary metabolites (SMs) are derivative of PMs, and both PMs and SMs play key roles in plant adaptation to ESs, including SS [ 1 , 14 ].…”