Sense-, antisense- and RNAi-4CL1 regulate soluble phenolic acids, cell wall components and growth in transgenic Populus tomentosa Carr.

Abstract Regulation of lignin biosynthesis affects plant growth and wood properties. Transgenic downregulation of 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (4CL, EC 6.2.1.12) may reduce lignin content in cell walls, which could improve the qualities of pulp in papermaking and increase the efficiency of bioenergy applications. To determine the effects of Ptc4CL1 on lignin biosynthesis and plant growth, Populus tomentosa Carr. was transformed using sense-, antisense-, and RNAi-4CL1 genes. The growth properties, gene expression, enzyme activity, lignin content and composition and content of soluble phenolic acids were investigated in 1-year-old field-grown transgenic poplar trees. Transgenic up- and down-regulation of 4CL1 altered lignin content and composition in transgenic poplars, but there were no negative effects on the growth of transgenic plants. In addition, the severe changes in auxin observed in transgenic lines led to significantly enhanced growth performance. Furthermore, lignin content was tightly correlated with the alteration of 4CL1 enzymatic activity, which was correlated with 4CL1 gene expression. A significant increase in S units in lignin with a slight increase in sinapic acid was observed in 4CL1 down-regulated transgenic poplars. These results suggest that 4CL1 is a traffic control gene in monolignol biosynthesis and confirm that 4CL1 activity has been implicated with sinapoyl activation. Finally, our data demonstrate that there is cross-correlation among 4CL1 gene expression, 4CL1 enzyme activity, soluble phenolic acid, lignin monomer biosynthesis, and lignin content.