MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CER1 GENE OF ARABIDOPSIS INVOLVED IN EPICUTICULAR WAX BIOSYNTHESIS AND POLLEN FERTILITY

The aerial parts of plants are coated with an epicuticular wax layer, which is important as a first line of defense against external influen ces, In Arabidopsis, the ECERIFERUM (CER) genes effect different steps of the wax biosynthesis pathway. In this article, we describe the iso lation of the CER1 gene, which encodes a novel protein involved in the conversion of long chain aldehydes to alkanes, a key step in wax bios ynthesis. CER1 was cloned after gene tagging with the heterologous mai ze transposable element system Enhancer-inhibitor, also known as Suppr essor-mutator. cer1 mutants display glossy green stems and fruits and are conditionally male sterile. The similarity of the CER1 protein wit h a group of integral membrane enzymes, which process highly hydrophob ic molecules, points to a function of the CER1 protein as a decarbonyl ase.