Abstract
Main conclusion
Taiwan oil millet has two types of epicuticular wax: platelet wax composed primarily of octacosanol and filament wax constituted essentially by the singular compound of octacosanoic acid.
Abstract
Taiwan oil millet (TOM–Eccoilopus formosanus) is an orphan crop cultivated by the Taiwan indigenous people. It has conspicuous white powder covering its leaf sheath indicating abundant epicuticular waxes, that may contribute to its resilience. Here, we characterized the epicuticular wax secretion in TOM leaf blade and leaf sheath using various microscopy techniques, as well as gas chromatography to determine its composition. Two kinds of waxes, platelet and filaments, were secreted in both the leaf blades and sheaths. The platelet wax is secreted ubiquitously by epidermal cells, whereas the filament wax is secreted by a specific cell called epidermal cork cells. The newly developed filament waxes were markedly re-synthesized by the epidermal cork cells through papillae protrusions on the external periclinal cell wall. Ultrastructural images of cork cell revealed the presence of cortical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) tubules along the periphery of plasma membrane (PM) and ER-PM contact sites (EPCS). The predominant wax component was a C28 primary alcohol in leaf blade, and a C28 free fatty acid in the leaf sheath, pseudopetiole and midrib. The wax morphology present in distinct plant organs corresponds to the specific chemical composition: platelet wax composed of alcohols exists mainly in the leaf blade, whereas filament wax constituted mainly by the singular compound C28 free fatty acids is present abundantly in leaf sheath. Our study clarifies the filament wax composition in relation to a previous study in sorghum. Both platelet and filament waxes comprise a protection barrier for TOM.
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Abbreviations
- EPCS:
-
Endoplasmic reticulum-plasma membrane contact sites
- GC-MS:
-
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
- PM:
-
Plasma membrane
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- TEM:
-
Transmission electron microscopy
- TOM:
-
Taiwan oil millet
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the Innovative Translational Agricultural Research (ITAR) Taiwan (2018PRE050, AS-108-ITAR-L05, AS-109-ITAR-L05, AS-110-ITAR-L01). We thank Ms. Lie-Hong Wu for greenhouse maintenance; Ms. Mei-Jane Fang and Mr. Ji-Ying Huang for technical assistance in the microscope facility (Live-Cell-Imaging Core Lab of IPMB, Academia Sinica): Chia-Me Hsu, Yi-Chia Chou, and Hsiao-Jung Yen for TEM and SEM assistance (Electron Microscope of IPMB, Academia Sinica); Yu-Ching Wu (Small Molecules Metabolomics Core Lab of IPMB, Academia Sinica) for GC-MS facility maintenance; and Ms. Laura Smales for English editing. We also would like to acknowledge our gratitude to the Taiwanese indigenous peoples for their stewardship of Taiwan oil millet strains.
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YICH conceived and designed the study. MA, YYL, SAF, HPW, CCW and WNJ performed the experiments. TJR and FD contributed to the metabolomics analysis experiment. MA analyzed the data, and MA, YICH, TJR and FD wrote the manuscript. YICH acquired the funding and supervised the study. All authors approved the submitted manuscript.
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Anggarani, M., Lin, YY., Fang, SA. et al. Morphology and chemical composition of Taiwan oil millet (Eccoilopus formosanus) epicuticular wax. Planta 259, 89 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-024-04352-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-024-04352-y