Root Aliphatic Suberin Analysis Using Non-extraction or Solvent-extraction Methods.

Here we describe both non-extraction and solvent-extraction methods for root aliphatic suberin analysis. The non-extraction method is fast as roots are directly depolymerized using acidic transmethylation. However, suberin aliphatic components are isolated together with all the other acyl chains making up the lipids (, membranes) present in roots.

Suberin: biosynthesis, regulation, and polymer assembly of a protective extracellular barrier.

Suberin is a lipid-phenolic biopolyester deposited in the cell walls of certain boundary tissue layers of plants, such as root endodermis, root and tuber peridermis, and seed coats. Suberin serves as a protective barrier in these tissue layers, controlling, for example, water and ion transport. It is also a stress-induced anti-microbial barrier.

Acyl-lipid thioesterase1-4 from Arabidopsis thaliana form a novel family of fatty acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterases with divergent expression patterns and substrate specificities.

Hydrolysis of fatty acyl thioester bonds by thioesterases to produce free fatty acids is important for dictating the diversity of lipid metabolites produced in plants. We have characterized a four-member family of fatty acyl thioesterases from Arabidopsis thaliana, which we have called acyl-lipid thioesterase1 (ALT1), ALT2, ALT3, and ALT4. The ALTs belong to the Hotdog fold superfamily of thioesterases.

Suberin-associated fatty alcohols in Arabidopsis: distributions in roots and contributions to seed coat barrier properties.

Suberin is found in a variety of tissues, such as root endoderms and periderms, storage tuber periderms, tree cork layer, and seed coats. It acts as a hydrophobic barrier to control the movement of water, gases, and solutes as well as an antimicrobial barrier. Suberin consists of polymerized phenolics, glycerol, and a variety of fatty acid derivatives, including primary fatty alcohols.

Biochemical characterization of a chloroplast localized fatty acid reductase from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Primary long-chain fatty alcohols are present in a variety of phyla. In eukaryotes, the production of fatty alcohols is catalyzed by fatty acyl-CoA reductase (FAR) enzymes that convert fatty acyl-CoAs or acyl-ACPs into fatty alcohols. Here, we report on the biochemical properties of a purified plant FAR, Arabidopsis FAR6 (AtFAR6).

Three Arabidopsis fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductases, FAR1, FAR4, and FAR5, generate primary fatty alcohols associated with suberin deposition.

Suberin is a protective hydrophobic barrier consisting of phenolics, glycerol, and a variety of fatty acid derivatives, including C18:0-C22:0 primary fatty alcohols. An eight-member gene family encoding alcohol-forming fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductases (FARs) has been identified in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Promoter-driven expression of the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene indicated that three of these genes, FAR1(At5g22500), FAR4(At3g44540), and FAR5(At3g44550), are expressed in root endodermal cells.