Downregulation of caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT) by RNA interference leads to reduced lignin production in maize straw

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Xiaoyu Li¹  Wenjuan Chen¹  Yang Zhao¹  Yan Xiang¹  Haiyang Jiang¹  Suwen Zhu¹  Beijiu Cheng¹ 

[1] ,Anhui Agricultural University Laboratory of Crop BiologyHefei ,China

关键词: CCoAOMT;    lignin biosynthesis;    lignin and cellulose content;    Maize;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1415-47572013005000039

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Lignin is a major cell wall component of vascular plants that provides mechanical strength and hydrophobicity to vascular vessels. However, the presence of lignin limits the effective use of crop straw in many agroindustrial processes. Here, we generated transgenic maize plants in which the expression of a lignin biosynthetic gene encoding CCoAOMT , a key enzyme involved in the lignin biosynthesis pathway was downregulated by RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi of CCoAOMT led to significantly downregulated expression of this gene in transgenic maize compared with WT plants. These transgenic plants exhibited a 22.4% decrease in Klason lignin content and a 23.3% increase in cellulose content compared with WT plants, which may reflect compensatory regulation of lignin and cellulose deposition. We also measured the lignin monomer composition of the RNAi plants by GC-MS and determined that transgenic plants had a 57.08% higher S/G ratio than WT plants. In addition, histological staining of lignin with Wiesner reagent produced slightly more coloration in the xylem and sclerenchyma than WT plants. These results provide a foundation for breeding maize with low-lignin content and reveal novel insights about lignin regulation via genetic manipulation of CCoAOMT expression.

【 授权许可】

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