Cell wall polysaccharide and glycoprotein content tracks growth‐form diversity and an aridity gradient in the leaf‐succulent genus.

Fradera‐Soler, Marc; Mravec, Jozef; Harholt, Jesper; Grace, Olwen M.; Jørgensen, Bodil

Cell wall polysaccharide and glycoprotein content tracks growth‐form diversity and an aridity gradient in the leaf‐succulent genus.

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Physiologia_Plantarum_-_2023_-_Fradera_Soler_-_Cell_wall_polysaccharide_and_glycoprotein_content_tracks_growth_form.pdf

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Fradera‐Soler, Marc

Mravec, Jozef

Harholt, Jesper

Grace, Olwen M.

Jørgensen, Bodil

Date published

August 31, 2023

Abstract

Cell wall traits are believed to be a key component of the succulent syndrome, an adaptive syndrome to drought, yet the variability of such traits remains largely unknown. In this study, we surveyed the leaf polysaccharide and glycoprotein composition in a wide sampling of species that occur naturally along an aridity gradient in southern Africa, and we interpreted its adaptive significance in relation to growth form and arid adaptation. To study the glycomic diversity, we sampled leaf material from 56 taxa and performed comprehensive microarray polymer profiling to obtain the relative content of cell wall polysaccharides and glycoproteins. This analysis was complemented by the determination of monosaccharide composition and immunolocalization in leaf sections using glycan‐targeting antibodies. We found that compact and non‐compact species occupy distinct phenotypic spaces in terms of leaf glycomics, particularly in regard to rhamnogalacturonan I, its arabinan side chains, and arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs). Moreover, these cell wall components also correlated positively with increasing aridity, which suggests that they are likely advantageous in terms of arid adaptation. These differences point to compact species having more elastic cell walls with plasticizing properties, which can be interpreted as an adaptation toward increased drought resistance. Furthermore, we report an intracellular pool of AGPs associated with oil bodies and calcium oxalate crystals, which could be a peculiarity of and could be linked to increased drought resistance. Our results indicate that glycomics may be underlying arid adaptation and drought resistance in succulent plants.

Funder

Funder name	Awards
Slovenská Akadémia Vied, Slovakia	Project number IM-2021-23
Carlsbergfondet, Denmark
Grønt Udviklings- og Demonstrations Program, Denmark
HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions	Grant agreement No. 801199