Deciphering the Evolution and Development of the Cuticle by Studying Lipid Transfer Proteins in Mosses and Liverworts
Tiina A. Salminen 1
, D. Magnus Eklund 2, Valentin Joly 3, Kristina Blomqvist 4, Daniel P. Matton 3 and Johan Edqvist 4,*
, D. Magnus Eklund 2, Valentin Joly 3, Kristina Blomqvist 4, Daniel P. Matton 3 and Johan Edqvist 4,*
1
Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory, Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Turku, Finland
2
Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
3
Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Département de Sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada
4
IFM, Linköping University, 581 81 Linköping, Sweden
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2018, 7(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants7010006
Received: 30 October 2017 / Revised: 10 December 2017 / Accepted: 11 January 2018 / Published: 15 January 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Plant Cuticle)
Abstract
When plants conquered land, they developed specialized organs, tissues, and cells in order to survive in this new and harsh terrestrial environment. New cell polymers such as the hydrophobic lipid-based polyesters cutin, suberin, and sporopollenin were also developed for protection against water loss, radiation, and other potentially harmful abiotic factors. Cutin and waxes are the main components of the cuticle, which is the waterproof layer covering the epidermis of many aerial organs of land plants. Although the in vivo functions of the group of lipid binding proteins known as lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are still rather unclear, there is accumulating evidence suggesting a role for LTPs in the transfer and deposition of monomers required for cuticle assembly. In this review, we first present an overview of the data connecting LTPs with cuticle synthesis. Furthermore, we propose liverworts and mosses as attractive model systems for revealing the specific function and activity of LTPs in the biosynthesis and evolution of the plant cuticle. View Full-Text
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Salminen, T.A.; Eklund, D.M.; Joly, V.; Blomqvist, K.; Matton, D.P.; Edqvist, J. Deciphering the Evolution and Development of the Cuticle by Studying Lipid Transfer Proteins in Mosses and Liverworts. Plants 2018, 7, 6.
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