Genetic Analysis of Cellular Adhesion in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant cell adhesion is mediated by the extracellular matrix (ECM) or cell wall and plays an important role in plant morphogenesis and development. The amount, modification, and cleavage of pectin in the cell wall are major contributors to the adhesive properties of the ECM. To gain a more complete picture of plant cell adhesion processes, Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings were previously mutagenized and screened for hypocotyl adhesion defects. Genomic sequencing of one plant exhibiting an adhesion defect, isolate 242, showed that two mutations, one in cellulose synthase (CesA1) and another in a sugar transporter, are candidates for the causative mutation. This thesis reports that CesA1 is necessary for proper plant cell adhesion, while the sugar transporter encoded at At4g32390 is not. Dark grown seedlings homozygous for mutations in CesA1 stain in ruthenium red, indicating atypical adhesion, while those homozygous for null mutations in At4g32390 do not. Previous study of another adhesion mutant revealed ELMO1, a Golgi protein necessary for plant cell adhesion, and four additional homologs ELMO2-5 in the A. thaliana genome. Two of these homologs, ELMO2 and ELMO3, fused to GFP, colocalized with mCherry-MEM1 markers in the Golgi, but not mCherry-NLM12 ER markers, indicating that ELMO2 and ELMO3 are also Golgi proteins.