Cellulose is a cell wall constituent that is essential for plant growth and development, and an important raw material for a range of industrial applications. Cellulose is synthesized at the plasma membrane by massive cellulose synthase (CesA) complexes that track along cortical microtubules in elongating cells of Arabidopsis through the activity of the protein CELLULOSE SYNTHASE INTERACTING1 (CSI1). In a recent study we identified another family of proteins that also are associated with the CesA complex and microtubules, and that we named COMPANIONS OF CELLULOSE SYNTHASE (CC). The CC proteins protect the cellulose synthesising capacity of Arabidopsis seedlings during exposure to adverse environmental conditions by enhancing microtubule dynamics. In this paper we provide cell biology and genetic evidence that the CSI1 and the CC proteins fulfil distinct functions during cellulose synthesis. We also show that the CC proteins are necessary to aid cellulose synthesis when components of the CesA complex are impaired. These data indicate that the CC proteins have a broad role in aiding cellulose synthesis during environmental changes and when core complex components are non-functional.
Keywords: Abiotic stress; Arabidopsis; cellulose; microtubules; plant cell walls.