Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and cell wall peroxidase are cooperatively involved in the extensive formation of ferulate network in cell walls of developing rice shoots.

The relationship between the formation of cell wall-bound ferulic acid (FA) and diferulic acid (DFA) and the change in activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and cell wall-bound peroxidase (CW-PRX) was studied in rice shoots. The length and the fresh mass of shoots increased during the growth period from day 4 to 6, while coleoptiles ceased elongation growth on day 5. The amounts of FA and DFA isomers as well as cell wall polysaccharides continued to increase during the whole period. The activities of PAL and CW-PRX greatly increased in the same manner during the period. There were close correlations between the PAL activity and ferulate content or between the CW-PRX activity and DFA content. The expression levels of investigated genes for PAL and putative CW-PRX showed good accordance with the activities of these enzymes. These results suggest that increases in PAL and CW-PRX activities are cooperatively involved in the formation of ferulate network in cell walls of rice shoots and that investigated genes may be, at least in part, associated with the enzyme activities. The substantial increase in such network probably causes the maturation of cell walls and thus the cessation of elongation growth of coleoptiles.