The Arabidopsis mutant Atomt1 lignin differs from native lignin in wild type plants, in terms of sinapyl (S) alcohol-derived substructures in fiber cell walls being substituted by 5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol (5OHG)-derived moieties. During programmed lignin assembly, these engender formation of benzodioxane substructures due to intramolecular cyclization of their quinone methides that are transiently formed following 8-O-4′ radical-radical coupling. Thioacidolytic cleavage of the 8-O-4′ inter-unit linkages in the Atomt1 mutant, relative to the wild type, indicated that cleavable sinapyl (S) and coniferyl (G) alcohol-derived monomeric moieties were stoichiometrically reduced by a circa 2 : 1 ratio. Additionally, lignin degradative analysis resulted in release of a 5OHG–5OHG–G trimer from the Atomt1 mutant, which then underwent further cleavage. Significantly, the trimeric moiety released provides new insight into lignin primary structure: during polymer assembly, the first 5OHG moiety is linked via a C8–O–X inter-unit linkage, whereas subsequent addition of monomers apparently involves sequential addition of 5OHG and G moieties to the growing chain in a 2 : 1 overall stoichiometry. This quantification data thus provides further insight into how inter-unit linkage frequencies in native lignins are apparently conserved (or near conserved) during assembly in both instances, as well as providing additional impetus to resolve how the overall question of lignin macromolecular assembly is controlled in terms of both type of monomer addition and primary sequence.
拟南芥突变体 Atomt1
木质素与野生型植物中的原生
木质素不同,纤维细胞壁中由 sinapyl (S) 醇衍生的亚结构被 5-hydroxyconiferyl 醇 (5O
HG) 衍生的分子取代。在
木质素的程序化组装过程中,由于 8-O-4′ 自由基-自由基偶联后瞬时形成的醌基
甲烷的分子内环化作用,这些醌基
甲烷会形成苯并
二恶烷亚结构。与野生型相比,Atomt1 突变体中 8-O-4′ 单元间连接的
硫代酸裂解表明,可裂解的桧醇(S)和
松柏醇(G)衍生的单体分子以约 2 :1 的比例减少。此外,
木质素降解分析还导致 Atomt1 突变体释放出 5O
HG-5O
HG-G 三聚体,然后进一步裂解。值得注意的是,释放出的三聚体提供了对
木质素一级结构的新认识:在聚合物组装过程中,第一个 5O
HG 分子通过 C8-O-X 单元间连接,而随后单体的添加显然涉及 5O
HG 和 G 分子以 2 :1 的总比例。因此,这些定量数据让我们进一步了解了在这两种情况下,原生
木质素中的单元间连接频率是如何在组装过程中保持不变(或接近不变)的,同时也为解决
木质素大分子组装的整体问题提供了更多动力,即单体添加类型和主序是如何受控的。