The woody tissue of trees is composed of xylem cells that arise from divisions of stem cells within the cambial meristem. The rate of xylem cell formation is dependent upon the rate of cell division within the cambium and is controlled by both genetic and environmental factors. In the annual plant Arabidopsis, signaling between a peptide ligand CLE41 and a receptor kinase PXY controls cambial cell divisions; however, the pathway regulating secondary growth in trees has not been identified. Here, we show that an aspen receptor kinase PttPXY and its peptide ligand PttCLE41 are functional orthologs and act to control a multifunctional pathway that regulates both the rate of cambial cell division and woody tissue organization. Ectopic overexpression of PttPXY and PttCLE41 genes in hybrid aspen resulted in vascular tissue abnormalities and poor plant growth. In contrast, precise tissue-specific overexpression generated trees that exhibited a 2-fold increase in the rate of wood formation, were taller, and possessed larger leaves compared to the controls. Our results demonstrate that the PXY-CLE pathway has evolved to regulate secondary growth and manipulating this pathway can result in dramatically increased tree growth and productivity.

Cellulose is a biopolymer of considerable economic importance. It is synthesised by the cellulose synthase complex (CSC) in species ranging from bacteria to higher plants. Enormous progress in our understanding of bacterial cellulose synthesis has come with the recent publication of both the crystal structure and biochemical characterisation of a purified complex able to synthesis cellulose in vitro. A model structure of a plant CESA protein suggests considerable similarity between the bacterial and plant cellulose synthesis. In this review article we will cover current knowledge of how plant CESA proteins synthesise cellulose. In particular the focus will be on the lessons learned from the recent work on the catalytic mechanism and the implications that new data on cellulose structure has for the assembly of CESA proteins into the large complex that synthesis plant cellulose microfibrils.

One of the defining characteristics of plant growth and morphology is the pivotal role of cell expansion. While the mechanical properties of the cell wall determine both the extent and direction of cell expansion, the cortical microtubule array plays a critical role in cell wall organization and, consequently, determining directional (anisotropic) cell expansion. The microtubule-severing enzyme katanin is essential for plants to form aligned microtubule arrays; however, increasing severing activity alone is not sufficient to drive microtubule alignment. Here, we demonstrate that katanin activity depends upon the behavior of the microtubule-associated protein (MAP) SPIRAL2 (SPR2). Petiole cells in the cotyledon epidermis exhibit well-aligned microtubule arrays, whereas adjacent pavement cells exhibit unaligned arrays, even though SPR2 is found at similar levels in both cell types. In pavement cells, however, SPR2 accumulates at microtubule crossover sites, where it stabilizes these crossovers and prevents severing. In contrast, in the adjacent petiole cells, SPR2 is constantly moving along the microtubules, exposing crossover sites that become substrates for severing. Consequently, our study reveals a novel mechanism whereby microtubule organization is determined by dynamics and localization of a MAP that regulates where and when microtubule severing occurs.

Cellulose consists of linear chains of β-1,4-linked glucose units, which are synthesized by the cellulose synthase complex (CSC). In plants, these chains associate in an ordered manner to form the cellulose microfibrils. Both the CSC and the local environment in which the individual chains coalesce to form the cellulose microfibril determine the structure and the unique physical properties of the microfibril. There are several recent reviews that cover many aspects of cellulose biosynthesis, which include trafficking of the complex to the plasma membrane and the relationship between the movement of the CSC and the underlying cortical microtubules (Bringmann et al. 2012 Trends Plant Sci. 17 , 666–674 ( doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2012.06.003 ); Kumar & Turner 2015 Phytochemistry 112 , 91–99 ( doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.07.009 ); Schneider et al. 2016 Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 34 , 9–16 ( doi:10.1016/j.pbi.2016.07.007 )). In this review, we will focus on recent advances in cellulose biosynthesis in plants, with an emphasis on our current understanding of the structure of individual catalytic subunits together with the local membrane environment where cellulose synthesis occurs. We will attempt to relate this information to our current knowledge of the structure of the cellulose microfibril and propose a model in which variations in the structure of the CSC have important implications for the structure of the cellulose microfibril produced. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘New horizons for cellulose nanotechnology’.