Abstract
Leaning stems of woody plants form reaction wood, in hardwood trees termed tension wood (TW). Typical TW fibers, gelatinous fibers (G-fibers), are characterized by an inner gelatinous cell wall layer (G-layer). Xyloglucan endotransglycosylases (XETs) was proposed as the essential enzyme in cell wall modifications in TW, by making xyloglucan (XG) cross-links between G- and S2-layers in G-fibers, and thus maintaining their contact. The determination of TW presence in a sample is of great importance for the forest products industry, biofuel production, and tree physiology studies. However, TW is not easy to detect visually. The colorimetric assay for XET activity determination as an indicator of TW presence in a sample was tested on powdered stem segments of juvenile Populus x euramericana trees exposed to severe long-term static bending. In parallel, histochemical and ultrastructural characterization of stem samples of bent and control trees was performed. The tested colorimetric assay for XET activity determination could be suggested as a useful and easily applicable tool for fast screening of powdered wood samples for the presence of TW.
Funding source: Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
Award Identifier / Grant number: 451-03-68/2022-14/200053
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment, University of Novi Sad for providing Populus x euramericana cl. NS 11-8 cuttings. We thank Dr Vladimir Farkaš, Slovak Akademy os Sciences, Bratislava, for providing XG and XGOs.
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Author contributions: KR and ALjM – research design; JSR, DS and ALjM – sample collection and processing; MP, DS, JSR – XET extraction and activity determination and results interpretation; KV – SEM. ALjM – histochemical and structural analysis; ALjM – writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Research funding: This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (contract no. 451-03-68/2022-14/200053).
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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