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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Changes in xylem tissue and laccase transcript abundance associated with posture recovery in Chamaecyparis obtusa saplings growing on an incline

Saori Sato A , Hideto Hiraide A , Masato Yoshida A B and Hiroyuki Yamamoto A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.

B Corresponding author. Email: yoshida@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Functional Plant Biology 40(6) 637-643 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP12313
Submitted: 24 October 2012  Accepted: 28 January 2013   Published: 5 March 2013

Abstract

Lignin is a major component of plant cell walls and is synthesised through oxidative polymerisation of monolignols. The transcription level of laccase, an enzyme implicated in monolignol polymerisation, is higher in the tissue forming compression wood than in normal wood. Compression wood, which is a special xylem tissue that develops to reorient inclined stems, also has a higher lignin content than normal wood. In the present study, Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl. saplings were grown on an incline and the following variables were tracked for 10 weeks: posture recovery of the saplings; development of xylem tissue on the lower side of inclined stems; and the transcription level of laccase. The posture of saplings approached vertical after 8 weeks, the development of compression wood reached a peak around 6 weeks and laccase transcription was the highest after 4 weeks. These results suggest a sequence of righting mechanisms. Inclination stimulates an increase in the abundance of laccase transcript and this increase encourages the formation of compression wood. The accumulation of compression wood then causes the stem to bend upward.

Additional keywords: growth stress, Japanese cypress, reaction wood, reorientation, xylogenesis.


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