Cellulose synthase (UDP-forming)

Cellulose microfibrils are made on the surface of cell membranes to reinforce cells walls, which has been researched extensively by plant biochemists and cell biologist because 1) they regulate cellular morphogenesis and 2) they serve alongside many other constituents (i.e. lignin, hemicellulose, pectin) in the cell wall as a strong structural support and cell shape.[14] Without these support structures, cell growth would cause a cell to swell and spread in all directions, thus losing its shape viability [15]

In plants, cellulose is synthesized by large cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs), which consist of synthase protein isoforms (CesA) that are arranged into a unique hexagonal structure known as a “particle rosette” 50 nm wide and 30–35 nm tall.[5][18][19] There are more than 20 of these full-length integral membrane proteins, each of which is around 1000 amino acids long.[8][9] These rosettes, formerly known as granules, were first discovered in 1972 by electron microscopy in green algae species Cladophora and Chaetomorpha[20] (Robinson et al. 1972). Solution x-ray scattering have shown that CesAs are at the surface of a plant cell and are elongated monomers with a two catalytic domains that fuse together into dimers. The center of the dimers is the main point of catalytic activity,[5] and the lobes are presumed to contain the plant specific PC-R and CS-R.[8] Since cellulose is made in all cell walls, CesA proteins are present in all tissues and cell types of plants. Nonetheless, there are different types of CesA, some tissue types may have varying concentrations of one over another. For example, the AtCesA1 (RSW1) protein is involved in the biosynthesis of primary cell walls throughout the whole plant while the AtCesA7 (IRX3) protein is only expressed in the stem for secondary cell wall production.[9]

Compared to the bacterial enzyme, plant versions of the synthase are much harder to crystallize, and as of August 2019 no experimental atomic structures of the plant cellulose synthase catalytic domain is known. However, at least two high-confidence structures have been predicted for these enzymes.[8][11] The broader of the two structures (Sethaphong 2013), which includes the entire middle cytoplasmic domain (again sandwiched between TM helices), gives a useful view of the enzyme: two plant-specific insertions called the PC-R (plant-conserved region, similar in all plants) on the N-terminal end and CS-R (class-specific region, determines the subclass number after CesA) on the C-terminal end punctuate the usual GT catalytic core, probably providing the unique rosette-forming function of plant CesA.[11] (Some CesA proteins possess an additional insertion.)[21] The structure seems to explain the effects of many known mutations. The positioning of the two insertions, however, do not match the scattering result from Olek 2014.[11] An 2016 experimental model of the PC-R (5JNP) domain helps to fill in this gap, as it greatly improves the fit against Olek's previous result.[22] It also matches the Sethaphong 2015 prediction of an antiparallel coiled-coil well. The two groups continue to further their understandings of the CesA structure, with Olek et al focusing on experimental structures and Sethaphong et al focusing on plant studies and building better computer models.[23]

Other differences from the bacterial BcsA includes a different TM helice count (BcsA has 4 helices on each end; CesA has two on the N-terminal and 6 on the C-terminal), and the presence of a zinc finger (1WEO) at the N-terminus.[8]

Microfibril synthesis is guided by cortical microtubules, which lie beneath the plasma membrane of elongating cells, in that they form a platform on which the CSCs can convert glucose molecules into the crystalline chains. The microtubule–microfibril alignment hypothesis proposes that cortical microtubules, which lie beneath the plasma membrane of elongating cells, provide tracks for CSCs that convert glucose molecules into crystalline cellulose microfibrils.[27] The direct hypothesis postulates some types of direct linkage between CESA complexes and microtubules.[24] Additionally, the KORRIGAN (KOR1) protein is thought to be a critical component of cellulose synthesis in that it acts as a cellulase at the plasma membrane-cell wall interface. KOR1 interacts with a two specific CesA proteins, possibly by proof-reading and relieving stress created by glucan chain synthesis, by hydrolyzing disordered amorphous cellulose.[28]

Cellulose synthesis activity is affected by many environmental stimuli, such as hormones, light, mechanical stimuli, nutrition, and interactions with the cytoskeleton. Interactions with these factors may influence cellulose deposition in that it affects the amount of substrate produced and the concentration and/or activity of CSCs in the plasma membrane.[8][5]