Thesis
A COMPARATIVE REPORT ON CELL WALL ARCHITECTURE, METABOLOMICS, AND LIGNIN PROFILE IN ARABIDOPSIS LIGNIN-BASED MUTANTS
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2026
Abstract
Because Arabidopsis thaliana is easily genetically engineered and reproduces rapidly, it is widely employed in studies of lignin gene mutants and the effects of such mutations on the plant. The gene family Arogenate Dehydratase (ADT) is the biochemical entry point for the synthesis of phenylalanine—an essential aromatic amino acid and the primary precursor of lignin. Previous studies by the Lewis lab have investigated the effect of ADT Knockout (KO) genotypes as well as transformation of the plant with a Carbon Concentrating Mechanism (CCM) on the vascular ultrastructure, growth trends and metabolomic profiles in Arabidopsis; however, ADT Overexpression (OE) genotypes have yet to be examined in the same manner. Here in is a report on the data attempting to answer the following research question: what is the effect of adt KO genotype, ADT OE and CCM transformation on the cellular ultrastructure, lignin composition and concentration, and metabolomic profiles. It was found that adt3/4/5/6 produced the shortest plants, with clear evidence of vessel collapse, a nearly 70% reduction in lignin, an S/G lignin ratio of nearly 0.7, and shown downregulation in nearly all metabolomic classes examined, agreeing with prior research. Further, it was found that CCM produced plants with the thickest average interfascicular and vessel fibers, had the most lignin of all examined genotypes (although not to any level of significance), and a metabolomic profile approximately equivalent to the wildtype. Finally, it was found that ADT4m/5m OE produced the thinnest average interfascicular fibers but did not deviate significantly from the wildtype in terms of lignin. Unfortunately, there was an error in sowing ADT4m/5m so that genotype cannot be metabolomically compared to the others.
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Details
- Title
- A COMPARATIVE REPORT ON CELL WALL ARCHITECTURE, METABOLOMICS, AND LIGNIN PROFILE IN ARABIDOPSIS LIGNIN-BASED MUTANTS
- Creators
- Jorgen Tacetta
- Contributors
- Norman Lewis (Advisor)Andrei Smertenko (Committee Member)Kulvinder Gill (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Program in Molecular Plant Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 124
- Identifiers
- 99901393706301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis