Plant cell wall pectin has a homogalacturonan or rhamnogalacturonan backbone. Incomplete knowledge of RG-I biosynthetic enzymes has impeded in vitro pectin synthesis and pectin structure and function studies. Here, RGGAT1 is identified as a GT116 RG-I backbone biosynthetic galacturonosyltransferase that produces polymeric RG-I backbone when expressed with GT106 RG-I rhamnosyltransferases.
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This is a summary of: Amos, R. A. et al. Polymerization of the backbone of the pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan I. Nat. Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01270-3 (2022).
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Unlocking RG-I backbone synthesis: identification of RGGAT1 and a new GT116 GT-A family. Nat. Plants 8, 1220–1221 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01271-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01271-2
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