Seed-specific down-regulation of Arabidopsis CELLULOSE SYNTHASE 1 or 9 reduces seed cellulose content and differentially affects carbon partitioning

Key message Seed-specific down-regulation of AtCESA1 and AtCESA9 , which encode cellulose synthase subunits, differentially affects seed storage compound accumulation in Arabidopsis. High amounts of cellulose can negatively affect crop seed quality, and, therefore, diverting carbon partitioning from cellulose to oil, protein and/or starch via molecular breeding may improve seed quality. To determine the effect of seed cellulose content reduction on levels of storage compounds, Arabidopsis thaliana CELLULOSE SYNTHASE1 ( AtCESA1 ) and AtCESA9 genes, which both encode cellulose synthase subunits, were individually down-regulated using seed-specific intron-spliced hairpin RNA (hpRNAi) constructs. The selected seed-specific AtCESA1 and AtCESA9 Arabidopsis RNAi lines displayed reduced cellulose contents in seeds, and exhibited no obvious visual phenotypic growth defects with the exception of a minor effect on early root development in AtCESA1 RNAi seedlings and early hypocotyl elongation in the dark in both types of RNAi line. The seed-specific down-regulation of AtCESA9 resulted in a reduction in seed weight compared to empty vector controls, which was not observed in AtCESA1 RNAi lines. In terms of effects on carbon partitioning, AtCESA1 and AtCESA9 RNAi lines exhibited distinct effects. The down-regulation of AtCESA1 led to a ~ 3% relative increase in seed protein content ( P = 0.04) and a ~ 3% relative decrease in oil content ( P = 0.02), but caused no alteration in soluble glucose levels. On the contrary, AtCESA9 RNAi lines did not display a significant reduction in seed oil, protein or soluble glucose content. Taken together, our results indicate that the seed-specific down-regulation of AtCESA1 causes alterations in seed storage compound accumulation, while the effect of AtCESA9 on carbon partitioning is absent or minor in Arabidopsis.