The algal homolog of the plant CER1 and CER3 proteins is a bifunctional hydrocarbon-forming enzyme.
Baca-Porcel Á, Légeret B, Six A, Cabanel M, Le Cossec M
Plant Evolution
The silvery bloom on a blueberry and the water-sheeting surface of a nasturtium leaf are relics of one of the oldest chemical inventions in plant history — scientists have now traced that wax-making machinery back to a single ancestral protein in microscopic pond algae, a clue that could one day help breeders engineer tougher, drought-resistant crops.
When the distant ancestors of today's plants first left the water hundreds of millions of years ago, they needed a waxy coating to keep from drying out. Scientists found that this wax-making ability likely started in ancient pond algae using a single protein that did the whole job on its own. Over time, that one protein appears to have split into two specialized partners that work together — which is exactly the two-protein system we see in every modern land plant today.
Key Findings
A single algal protein (CER1/3) in the microscopic green alga Ostreococcus tauri performs both enzymatic steps for hydrocarbon production that require two separate cooperating proteins in land plants.
CRISPR-Cas9 knockout experiments confirmed CER1/3 is essential for producing a specific fatty hydrocarbon (a C21:6 alkene) in Ostreococcus tauri.
In green algal genomes, the presence of the CER1/3 gene is inversely correlated with a different hydrocarbon-making enzyme, suggesting these are competing evolutionary strategies for producing surface hydrocarbons.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that a single protein in ancient green algae can perform both chemical steps needed to make waxy hydrocarbons — a job that requires two separate proteins working as a team in modern land plants. This reveals how the protective wax coating found on plant surfaces likely evolved as life transitioned from water to land.
Abstract Preview
The ability to synthesize and secrete hydrophobic compounds is believed to have been a pivotal event in the evolution of land plants from their aquatic green algal ancestors. The key to biosynthesi...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...