Improving Wood Properties for Wood Utilization Through Multi-omics Integration in Lignin Biosynthesis

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2018 Apr 22

PMID 29679008

Citations 99

Authors

Jack P Wang

Megan L Matthews

Cranos M Williams

Rui Shi

Chenmin Yang

Sermsawat Tunlaya-Anukit

Hsi-Chuan Chen

Quanzi Li

Jie Liu

Chien-Yuan Lin

Punith Naik

Ying-Hsuan Sun

Philip L Loziuk

Ting-Feng Yeh

Hoon Kim

Erica Gjersing

Todd Shollenberger

Christopher M Shuford

Jina Song

Zachary Miller

Yung-Yun Huang

Charles W Edmunds

Baoguang Liu

Yi Sun

Ying-Chung Jimmy Lin

Wei Li

Hao Chen

Ilona Peszlen

Joel J Ducoste

John Ralph

Hou-Min Chang

David C Muddiman

Mark F Davis

Chris Smith

Fikret Isik

Ronald Sederoff

Vincent L Chiang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A multi-omics quantitative integrative analysis of lignin biosynthesis can advance the strategic engineering of wood for timber, pulp, and biofuels. Lignin is polymerized from three monomers (monolignols) produced by a grid-like pathway. The pathway in wood formation of Populus trichocarpa has at least 21 genes, encoding enzymes that mediate 37 reactions on 24 metabolites, leading to lignin and affecting wood properties. We perturb these 21 pathway genes and integrate transcriptomic, proteomic, fluxomic and phenomic data from 221 lines selected from ~2000 transgenics (6-month-old). The integrative analysis estimates how changing expression of pathway gene or gene combination affects protein abundance, metabolic-flux, metabolite concentrations, and 25 wood traits, including lignin, tree-growth, density, strength, and saccharification. The analysis then predicts improvements in any of these 25 traits individually or in combinations, through engineering expression of specific monolignol genes. The analysis may lead to greater understanding of other pathways for improved growth and adaptation.

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