Gene Details:

• MSU gene ID: LOC_Os03g30250
• RAPdb gene ID: Os03g0416200
• Gene Symbol: BC1
• Genome: MSU7 ,  IRGSP-1.0
• Species: Oryza sativa

Functional Descriptions:

• In these types of cells, mutations in BC1 cause not only a reduction in cell wall thickness and cellulose content but also an increase in lignin level, suggesting that BC1, a gene that controls the mechanical strength of monocots, plays an important role in the biosynthesis of the cell walls of mechanical tissues.
• This expression pattern was highly similar to that of BC1, which encodes a COBRA-like protein involved in cellulose synthesis in secondary cell walls in rice.
• Genetic analysis showed that cwa1 is allelic to brittle culm1 (BC1), which encodes the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored COBRA-like protein specifically in plants.
• BC1 is known as a regulator that controls the culm mechanical strength and cellulose content in the secondary cell walls of sclerenchyma, but the precise function of BC1 has not been resolved.
• BC1, which encodes a COBRA-like protein, is expressed mainly in developing sclerenchyma cells and in vascular bundles of rice.
• Our results suggest that CWA1/BC1 has an essential role in assembling cell wall constituents at their appropriate sites, thereby enabling synthesis of solid and flexible internodes in rice.
• Isolation of a novel cell wall architecture mutant of rice with defective Arabidopsis COBL4 ortholog BC1 required for regulated deposition of secondary cell wall components.
• To understand the molecular mechanism that controls the plant mechanical strength of crops, we characterized the classic rice mutant brittle culm1 (BC1) and isolated BC1 using a map-based cloning approach.
• Our results suggested that CWA1/BC1 plays a role in assembling secondary cell wall materials at appropriate sites, enabling synthesis of highly ordered secondary cell wall structure with solid and flexible internodes in rice.
• To investigate the importance of the CBM-like sequence of CWA1/BC1 in the assembly of secondary cell wall materials, Trp residues in the CBM-like sequence, which is important for carbohydrate binding, were substituted for Val residues and introduced into the cwa1 mutant.
• CWA1/BC1 with the mutated sequence did not complement the abnormal secondary cell walls seen in the cwa1 mutant, indicating that the CBM-like sequence is essential for the proper function of CWA1/BC1, including assembly of secondary cell wall materials.
• The carbohydrate-binding module (CBM)-like sequence is crucial for rice CWA1/BC1 function in proper assembly of secondary cell wall materials.

Function-related keywords:

• cellulose ,  cell-wall ,  culm ,  vascular-bundle ,  architecture

Literature:

• Rice Brittle culm 6 encodes a dominant-negative form of CesA protein that perturbs cellulose synthesis in secondary cell walls .  DOI:  10.1093/jxb/erq395 ;  PMID:  21209026
• BRITTLE CULM1, which encodes a COBRA-like protein, affects the mechanical properties of rice plants .  DOI:  10.1105/tpc.011775 ;  PMID:  12953108
• The carbohydrate-binding module (CBM)-like sequence is crucial for rice CWA1/BC1 function in proper assembly of secondary cell wall materials .  DOI:  10.4161/psb.5.11.13342 ;  PMID:  21051956
• Isolation of a novel cell wall architecture mutant of rice with defective Arabidopsis COBL4 ortholog BC1 required for regulated deposition of secondary cell wall components .  DOI:  10.1007/s00425-010-1171-4 ;  PMID:  20424856

Related News:

Gene Resources:

• NCBI ID: AY328909  , AY328910
• UniProt accessions:

Sequences: