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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Microarray analysis of bast fibre producing tissues of Cannabis sativa identifies transcripts associated with conserved and specialised processes of secondary wall development

Mary A. De Pauw A , John J. Vidmar B , JoAnn Collins A , Rick A. Bennett A and Michael K. Deyholos A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E9 Canada.

B Alberta Research Council, Vegreville, T9C 1T4 Canada.

C Corresponding author. Email: deyholos@ualberta.ca

Functional Plant Biology 34(8) 737-749 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP07014
Submitted: 20 January 2007  Accepted: 2 May 2007   Published: 23 July 2007

Abstract

The mechanisms underlying bast fibre differentiation in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are largely unknown. We hybridised a cDNA microarray with RNA from fibre enriched tissues extracted at three different positions along the stem axis. Accordingly, we identified transcripts that were enriched in tissues in which phloem fibres were elongating or undergoing secondary wall thickening. These results were consistent with a dynamic pattern of cell wall deposition involving tissue specific expression of a large set of distinct glycosyltransferases and glycosylhydrolases apparently acting on polymers containing galactans, mannans, xylans, and glucans, as well as raffinose-series disaccharides. Putative arabinogalactan proteins and lipid transfer proteins were among the most highly enriched transcripts in various stem segments, with different complements of each expressed at each stage of development. We also detected stage-specific expression of brassinosteroid-related transcripts, various transporters, polyamine and phenylpropanoid related genes, and seven putative transcription factors. Finally, we observed enrichment of many transcripts with unknown biochemical function, some of which had been previously implicated in fibre development in poplar or cotton. Together these data complement and extend existing biochemical models of bast fibre development and secondary wall deposition and highlight uncharacterised, but conserved, components of these processes.

Additional keywords: fibre, hemp, phloem, stem.


Acknowledgements

We thank Drs Larry Pelcher (PBI, Saskatoon), and Anthony Cornish (U. Alberta) for assistance with DNA sequencing and microarray production. This research was funded by the Alberta Research Council.


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