XG FTase Background Information
Structural proteins in Arabidopsis provide cellular stability, facilitate protein transportation within the cell and are essential for cell growth. Three types of molecular motors are involved in the organization, dynamics and transport processes associated with the cytoskeleton (1). They include myosin, which transports cargo along actin filaments, and kinesin and dynein, which transport cargo along microtubules (1,2). These proteins regulate many cellular functions, including cell division and expansion, cell-to-cell communication, membrane trafficking and morphogenesis (2). In addition, the dynamin-like proteins are GTP-binding proteins involved in vesicle trafficking (3). Extensin is a structural protein that may be involved in cell wall assembly, while expansin is a cell wall loosening protein that induces stress relaxation and extension of cell walls and may control organ size, morphology and abscission (4,5). Also, xyloglucan (XG), a major hemicellulose in plants, is modified by the fucosyltransferase, XG FTase, which adds a terminal fucosyl residue to XG (6).
