CYP86A33-Targeted Gene Silencing in Potato Tuber Alters Suberin Composition, Distorts Suberin Lamellae, and Impairs the Periderm's Water Barrier Function

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) 2009-02, Vol.149 (2), p.1050-1060
• Main Authors: Serra, Olga, Soler, Marçal, Hohn, Carolin, Sauveplane, Vincent, Pinot, Franck, Franke, Rochus, Schreiber, Lukas, Prat, Salomé, Molinas, Marisa, Figueras, Mercè
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Arabidopsis - enzymology; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Biochemical Processes and Macromolecular Structures; Biological and medical sciences; Biosynthesis; Cell walls; Cellular Biology; Chemical composition; cork; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; esterification; Fatty acids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Silencing; genes; glycerol; Life Sciences; Lipids; Lipids - chemistry; Molecular Sequence Data; Monomers; nucleotide sequences; Oryza - enzymology; Oryza - genetics; Periderm; permeability; Phylogeny; Plant physiology and development; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Tubers - enzymology; Plant Tubers - genetics; Plants; polyesters; potatoes; RNA; RNA interference; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Solanum tuberosum; Solanum tuberosum - enzymology; Solanum tuberosum - genetics; suberin; Tubers; ultrastructure; Water - metabolism; Waxes
• ISSN: 0032-0889; 1532-2548; 1532-2548
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.108.127183

Suberin is a cell wall lipid polyester found in the cork cells of the periderm offering protection against dehydration and pathogens. Its biosynthesis and assembly, as well as its contribution to the sealing properties of the periderm, are still poorly understood. Here, we report on the isolation of the coding sequence CYP86A33 and the molecular and physiological function of this gene in potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber periderm. CYP86A33 was down-regulated in potato plants by RNA interference-mediated silencing. Periderm from CYP86A33-silenced plants revealed a 60% decrease in its aliphatic suberin load and greatly reduced levels of C18:1 ω-hydroxyacid (approximately 70%) and α,ω-diacid (approximately 90%) monomers in comparison with wild type. Moreover, the glycerol esterified to suberin was reduced by 60% in the silenced plants. The typical regular ultrastructure of suberin, consisting of dark and light lamellae, disappeared and the thickness of the suberin layer was clearly reduced. In addition, the water permeability of the periderm isolated from CYP86A33-silenced lines was 3.5 times higher than that of the wild type. Thus, our data provide convincing evidence for the involvement of ω-functional fatty acids in establishing suberin structure and function.