title: Cellulose synthases: new insights from crystallography and modeling.
abstract: Detailed information about the structure and biochemical mechanisms of cellulose synthase (CelS) proteins remained elusive until a complex containing the catalytic subunit (BcsA) of CelS from Rhodobacter sphaeroides was crystalized. Additionally, a 3D structure of most of the cytosolic domain of a plant CelS (GhCESA1 from cotton, Gossypium hirsutum) was produced by computational modeling. This predicted structure contributes to our understanding of how plant CelS proteins may be similar and different as compared with BcsA. In this review, we highlight how these structures impact our understanding of the synthesis of cellulose and other extracellular polysaccharides. We show how the structures can be used to generate hypotheses for experiments testing mechanisms of glucan synthesis and translocation in plant CelS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Slabaugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. Electronic address: jkdavis2@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA; Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Candace H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Haigler
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Yaroslava G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Yingling
authors.affiliation: Center for Membrane Biology, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zimmer
mesh_terms: D020134:Catalytic Domain; D003461:Crystallography; D005964:Glucosyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D005964:Glucosyltransferases; C478648:cellulose synthase