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News from
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Archive of CEN News Highlights |
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A Primer for Cellulose Biosynthesis in Plants |
| Using cotton fiber membranes, Liangcai Peng, Yasushi Kawagoe, Pat Hogan, and Deborah Delmer report in the journal Science (vol. 295, 4 January 2002, pp. 147-150) that a CesA glucosyltranferase initiates glucan polymerization by using sitosterol-beta-glucoside as a primer. | |
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Prime Time for Cellulose |
| Drs. Steve Read and Tony Bacic wrote a "Perspectives" article in Science (vol. 295, 4 January 2002, pp. 59-60) that summarizes the results reported by Peng, et al. (see news item above) and discusses how those results relate to the overall picture of cellulose biosynthesis and possibly to the biosynthesis of other beta-glucans. | |
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Cellulose Biosynthesis in Cyanobacteria |
| David Nobles, Dwight Romanovicz, and R. Malcolm Brown, Jr. report in Plant Physiology (vol. 127, October 2001, pp. 529-542) conclusive evidence for the presence of cellulose in cyanobacteria. Their phylogenetic analysis suggests the "endosymbiotic transfer of CesA from cyanobacteria to plants and an ancient origin for cellulose synthase in eukaryotes." | |
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Dr. Wolfgang Glasser Wins Anselme Payen Award from ACS Cellulose, Paper and Textile Division |
| Dr. Glasser, who is editor-in-chief of the journal "Cellulose", was presented with the award in April, 2001. (ACS link) | |
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How Widespread Among Bacteria is the Ability to Synthesize Cellulose? |
| It has long been known that a few bacteria (such as Acetobacter, Agrobacterium, Rhizobium) can synthesize cellulose. Recently, Xhavit Zogaj et al. reported in Molecular Microbiology (vol. 39, pp. 1452-1463) that nonpathogenic strains of Salmonella and Pseudomonas produce cellulose also. | |
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