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The Evolution And Development Of Awns In The Grass Subfamily Pooideae, Erin L. Patterson Mar 2024

The Evolution And Development Of Awns In The Grass Subfamily Pooideae, Erin L. Patterson

Doctoral Dissertations

This research focuses on a specific example of replicated evolution: the grass awn. Awns are typically extensions of the lemma, but may also appear on glumes or paleas. The lemma is a leaf-like organ on the exterior of the grass flower, the glumes are a pair of bracts subtending the basic unit of grass inflorescences, the spikelet, and the palea is the floral organ opposite the lemma. Awns are often described as "hair-" or "bristle-" like, but appear in many different shapes. Many awns are “twisted & geniculate", in which the awn has two sections, a lower twisted column, and …


Modulation Of Plant Immunity During The Establishment Of The Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiosis, Miriam Hernandez-Romero Apr 2023

Modulation Of Plant Immunity During The Establishment Of The Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiosis, Miriam Hernandez-Romero

Doctoral Dissertations

Nitrogen is essential for plant tissue growth but is often a limited resource in soils. Many legumes overcome this limitation by entering a symbiotic association with soil microbes, called rhizobia, which provide nitrogen to the plant while rhizobia receive fixed carbon. To successfully form a symbiosis, the host and symbiont exchange a series of molecular signals. One major obstacle during this interaction is the host's innate immune system, which becomes active upon rhizobial detection. It is therefore the main focus of this thesis to identify the mechanisms that modulate host immunity. In the subsequent chapters, we focus on a rhizobial …


Root Growth Dynamics In Response To Moderate Temperatures, Maura J. Zimmermann Oct 2022

Root Growth Dynamics In Response To Moderate Temperatures, Maura J. Zimmermann

Doctoral Dissertations

Temperature can impact growth in plants though both physical and biological means. Plants physically respond to temperature by scaling their enzyme reaction rate to temperature, such as seen in the redox reactions of photosynthesis. Biologically, a plant can respond to temperature more specifically, such as adjusting its flowering time. Recently, the Baskin lab discovered that cell division in the root of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is temperature acclimated (Yang et al., 2017). Between the non-extreme temperatures of 15 and 25˚C cell division and growth zone length are constant. While the rate of cell division increases with temperature, the number …


Investigation Of Basil Downy Mildew Pathogen Survival, New Pathotype Development And Sources Of Quantitative, Kelly S. Allen Oct 2022

Investigation Of Basil Downy Mildew Pathogen Survival, New Pathotype Development And Sources Of Quantitative, Kelly S. Allen

Doctoral Dissertations

Basil downy mildew (BDM) caused by the oomycete pathogen Peronospora belbahrii, threatens sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) production worldwide. Chemical and cultural control options for BDM are limited, and resistant cultivars have only recently become available for commercial production. To address this challenging agricultural disease, this research investigates BDM epidemiology, occurrences of new pathotypes, and molecular plant-pathogen interactions leading to host resistance or susceptibility. A reproducible low-resource inoculation protocol was developed to harvest P. belbahrii inoculum and propagate BDM for further research. The survival of P. belbahrii sporangia was examined using an in vitro assay to assess germination …


The Spatial Distribution Of Invasive Plant Presence, Abundance, And Impact, Evelyn M. Beaury Mar 2022

The Spatial Distribution Of Invasive Plant Presence, Abundance, And Impact, Evelyn M. Beaury

Doctoral Dissertations

Across the globe, native ecosystems are increasingly threatened by the spread and negative impacts of non-native, invasive plants. While many hypotheses explore what contributes to the damage caused by invasive species, few studies have tested these hypotheses at the macroscale. My dissertation addresses this knowledge gap by synthesizing thousands of vegetation surveys from ecosystems across the United States. I leverage existing, as well as explore new macroecological methods to deepen our understanding of the spatial ecology of plant invasions. My dissertation also asks how effective management and policy has been at reducing plant invasions. The primary introduction pathway for invasive …


Genetic And Environmental Regulation Of Plant Growth, Kirk J-M Mackinnon Feb 2022

Genetic And Environmental Regulation Of Plant Growth, Kirk J-M Mackinnon

Doctoral Dissertations

Field grown crops are continually exposed to a variety of external stimuli that influence plant responses. Light, temperature, and water availability interact to affect many economically important traits including growth rate, size, and lifespan. My research is focused on the intersection of genetic and environmental factors influencing plant growth. Specifically, I am interested in elucidating the regulation of rhythmic genes in response to photo- and thermocycles and identifying novel candidate genes associated with growth and drought traits. Understanding the gene regulatory networks that mediate time-of-day signaling is vital to identifying candidate genes across the pan-genome associated with traits of interest.


Community Assembly And Stress Response Of Grassland Phyllosphere Bacteria, Emily Bechtold Feb 2022

Community Assembly And Stress Response Of Grassland Phyllosphere Bacteria, Emily Bechtold

Doctoral Dissertations

Grasslands are an important ecosystem with potential to help stabilize food security and reduce greenhouse gas levels. As global temperatures rise, weather patterns are predicted to drastically change. The resulting increase in intensity, duration, and frequency of drought in important grassland areas will not only affect agricultural production, but also increase grassland susceptibility to fire, disease, and soil erosion. Thus, developing ways to sustainably promote grassland health and production is essential to increase food security and reduce environmental strain. Microbes in the phyllosphere, or aerial surface of plants, promote host fitness through phytohormone and nutrient production, increased stress tolerance, and …


The Characterization Of Traits Associated With Freezing Tolerance In Perennial Ryegrass, Rachael Preston Bernstein Oct 2021

The Characterization Of Traits Associated With Freezing Tolerance In Perennial Ryegrass, Rachael Preston Bernstein

Doctoral Dissertations

Plants are constantly subjected to adverse environmental conditions that alter their growth and productivity, with an estimation that approximately 50% of annual average crop yields are reduced due to abiotic stresses. Freezing stress causes desiccation and ice damage in plants and is becoming more important as temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns increase. Normally, plants acclimate to cold temperatures as winter approaches and deacclimate as temperatures warm in the spring. Cold acclimation in fall is required for plants to build up their cellular defenses against desiccation and intracellular ice formation, while deacclimation is the process in which plants metabolize protective compounds …


Dynamic Evolution In The Leucine-Rich Repeat Receptor-Like Kinase (Lrr-Rlk) Family Of Receptors, Jarrett Man Apr 2021

Dynamic Evolution In The Leucine-Rich Repeat Receptor-Like Kinase (Lrr-Rlk) Family Of Receptors, Jarrett Man

Doctoral Dissertations

Cells in multicellular organisms must gauge their environmental conditions, including neighboring cells, during development. In plants, the Leucine-Rich Repeat Receptor-like Kinases (LRR-RLKs) encode a family of membrane-bound receptors that transduce such cell-to-cell signals and are required for many aspects of plant development. Very little is known about the function of most of these genes, and the evolutionary history of the family is difficult to infer because of its size and complexity. Several factors contribute to this difficulty, including genetic redundancy, challenging bioinformatic detection, exceptionally large family size, and high copy number variation among species. In this dissertation, I characterize some …


Origin Of Gene Specificity In The Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiosis, Christina Marie Stonoha-Arther Jul 2020

Origin Of Gene Specificity In The Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiosis, Christina Marie Stonoha-Arther

Doctoral Dissertations

Many legumes form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in the soil. This relationship is beneficial to both the plant and the bacteria; the plant receives nitrogen that is otherwise limited, and the bacteria receive fixed carbon. Upon sensing the bacteria, the plant forms a new organ (the nodule) where the bacteria are housed within the cells. Many genes are required for the proper formation and function of nodules; this dissertation is broadly focused on how genes required for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis are co-opted from other cellular processes and how they are specialized for symbiosis. Protein trafficking from the plant to …


Investigating The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Synthesis And Thigmomorphogenesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Joshua Coomey May 2020

Investigating The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Synthesis And Thigmomorphogenesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Joshua Coomey

Doctoral Dissertations

A key aspect of plant growth is the synthesis and deposition of cell walls. In specific tissues and cell types including xylem and fiber, a thick secondary wall composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin is deposited. Secondary cell walls provide a physical barrier that protects plants from pathogens, promotes tolerance to abiotic stresses, and fortifies cells to withstand the forces associated with water transport and the physical weight of plant structures. Grasses have numerous cell wall features that are distinct from eudicots and other plants. Study of the model species Brachypodium distachyon has helped us begin to understand the internal …


Developing Alternative Forage Production Strategies For Enhanced Environmental And Economic Resilience On New England Dairy Farms, Samantha Glaze-Corcoran Mar 2020

Developing Alternative Forage Production Strategies For Enhanced Environmental And Economic Resilience On New England Dairy Farms, Samantha Glaze-Corcoran

Doctoral Dissertations

Cover crops are prized for their array of well documented and widely respected ecosystem services. Cover crops are an intrinsic part of building and sustaining soil health and thus the long term productive capacity of agricultural soils. However, effective cover crop adoption on New England dairy farms is lacking, and the benefits of traditional cover crops may be somewhat mismatched to the needs of dairy farms. Harvesting winter hardy small cereal grains for forage can provide practical incentive to farmers to incorporate effective cover crop management as well as provide an economic benefit in the form of additional on-farm forage …


Brachypodium Distachyon Gnrf, Swam1 And Swam4 Are Transcriptional Regulators Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis, Sandra Romero-Gamboa Jul 2019

Brachypodium Distachyon Gnrf, Swam1 And Swam4 Are Transcriptional Regulators Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis, Sandra Romero-Gamboa

Doctoral Dissertations

Plant cell walls are complex structures that contain a matrix of cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose. The regulation of the biosynthesis of these components has been well-studied in the eudicot plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and a transcriptional network has been elucidated. Several NAC and MYB family transcription factors are key regulators of secondary cell wall biosynthesis, and their functional characterization provides significant insight into the complex underlying transcriptional network. Genetic and structural evidence suggests that genes controlling this process might be different between eudicots and monocots. Here, the model grass Brachypodium distachyon has been selected to characterize the function of GNRF …


Introducing Faba Bean As A New Multi-Purpose Crop For Northeast U.S.A., Fatemeh Etemadi Jul 2019

Introducing Faba Bean As A New Multi-Purpose Crop For Northeast U.S.A., Fatemeh Etemadi

Doctoral Dissertations

Faba bean is a multi-benefit cool-season grain legume that can be integrated into cropping systems of a shorter-growing season regions such as New England. A comprehensive research study was conducted to explore the ecological, nutritional, medicinal, and financial benefits of faba bean as a new multi-purpose crop for Northeast U.S.A. It was revealed that the faba bean genotypes exhibited dramatic variations in thermal units required to reach various phenological stages. Using phenology, morphology and physiological growth pattern of six faba bean varieties showed that larger seeds and later maturity did not necessarily produced higher yield. Aquadulce, the earliest maturity with …


Small Fruit Phenolics: Phenolic Variations And Related Health Relevance, Susan Cheplick Mar 2019

Small Fruit Phenolics: Phenolic Variations And Related Health Relevance, Susan Cheplick

Doctoral Dissertations

Berries, specifically, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, are considered an integral part of a healthy plant-based diet. Berries contain high levels of phenolic compounds, which contribute to the health benefits of berry consumption. Many phenolic compounds exhibit high levels of antioxidant activity and other health related benefits, including anti- microbial, anti-inflammatory and cardio-vascular related functional capabilities. Strawberry and raspberry fruit were screened and evaluated for potential in dietary management of type 2 diabetes and related hypertension using in vitro assay models. There were differences between cultivars within each crop related to antioxidant activity. Inhibition of α- amylase, α-glucosidase, and ACE-1 …


The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Pollinators As Vectors Of Mummy Berry Disease In Highbush Blueberry, Matthew Boyer Mar 2019

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Pollinators As Vectors Of Mummy Berry Disease In Highbush Blueberry, Matthew Boyer

Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Many plants must balance the need for pollination services with mediating the risk of pollinator-vectored pathogens. Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry, is negatively affected by an insect-vectored, fungal plant pathogen, Monilinia vaccinii-corymosi (MVC), the cause of mummy berry disease, in which the asexual spore mimics pollen grains and is transferred from blighted tissue to flowers via pollinators, resulting in inedible, hardened fruits. Highbush blueberry plants require outcrossed pollen for maximum yield and fecundity. Therefore, yield of blueberry plants rely on a balance between adequate pollination service and disease avoidance. Approach: To explore the relationship between pollinator community and infection …


A Plant Pathology View Of Signaling: A Computational Study Of Fusarium Oxysporum Kinomes And Downy Mildew Resistance In Sweet Basil, Gregory Deiulio Nov 2018

A Plant Pathology View Of Signaling: A Computational Study Of Fusarium Oxysporum Kinomes And Downy Mildew Resistance In Sweet Basil, Gregory Deiulio

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of two projects that focus on pathogen and plant signaling within the framework of plant pathology. The first project targets protein kinases within the species complex Fusarium oxysporum based on genomic information and tracks their presence/absence and copy number variation across evolutionary time. We have predicted the kinomes of 19 Ascomycete fungi using the kinase annotating software Kinannote. Among Fusaria, kinases related to the perception of the environment, such as Histidine kinases, are proliferated. Similarly, I observed the expansion of Target of Rapamycin (TOR) kinase that regulates cell growth and development in responding to environmental cues. …


Variation And Evolution Of Fruit Ripening Traits In Tomato Species, Ian M. Gillis Oct 2018

Variation And Evolution Of Fruit Ripening Traits In Tomato Species, Ian M. Gillis

Doctoral Dissertations

As angiosperm seeds mature within their ovaries, ovary tissue tends to grow and transform itself into fruit, which aids the success of the seeds. Fruits that are fleshy provide numerous ways to aid in the protection and the dispersal of seeds. First, they keep seeds hidden, encased in hard walls, surrounded by poisons and unpalatable compounds, and second, they undergo developmental changes that facilitate seeds’ release. Tomatoes, a model fleshy fruit, have all these protective traits, and over the course of ripening they become the familiar fruit that is a staple crop around the world. The wild relatives of cultivated …


Grass-Specific Mechanisms Of Iron Uptake: Investigation Of Phytosiderophore Transporters And Discovery Of Novel Iron Deficiency Loci, David Chan Rodriguez Oct 2018

Grass-Specific Mechanisms Of Iron Uptake: Investigation Of Phytosiderophore Transporters And Discovery Of Novel Iron Deficiency Loci, David Chan Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Iron-deficiency anemia is one of the most prevalent forms of malnutrition worldwide, affecting 1.62 billion people, with the population in developing countries being the most affected. Iron is equally vital in plants to perform essential functions such as photosynthesis. Crop grasses form part of everyday human nutrition, contribute fundamentally to human caloric intake, and, in some parts of the world, are the primary source of food. Grasses acquire iron from the soil by secreting chelator molecules called phytosiderophores to solubilize iron, making it available to be transported by the Yellow Stripe1 (YS1) transporter. In this dissertation, I studied aspects of …


The Interplay Between Polarity Regulators, Calcium, And The Actin Cytoskeleton During Tip Growth, Carlisle Bascom Jr Oct 2018

The Interplay Between Polarity Regulators, Calcium, And The Actin Cytoskeleton During Tip Growth, Carlisle Bascom Jr

Doctoral Dissertations

Plant cell growth is a meticulously regulated process whereby the cell wall is selectively loosened to allow for turgor-pressure driven expansion. The rate of expansion must equal delivery of new material, or the cell will lyse. In many plant cells, this process happens diffusely around the cell. However, a number of plant cells have anisotropic shapes that require exquisite spatial control of secretion. One simple example of anisotropic patterning is tip growth; highly polarized cell expansion utilized by pollen tubes, root hairs, and moss protonemata. Investigating the role various molecules have in tip growth sheds light on how plant cells …


Investigation Of Fungicide Resistance Mechanisms And Dynamics Of The Multiple Fungicide Resistant Population In Sclerotinia Homoeocarpa, Hyunkyu Sang Jul 2017

Investigation Of Fungicide Resistance Mechanisms And Dynamics Of The Multiple Fungicide Resistant Population In Sclerotinia Homoeocarpa, Hyunkyu Sang

Doctoral Dissertations

A filamentous ascomycete fungus Sclerotinia homoeocarpa causes dollar spot, which is the most important disease of turfgrasses in the United States. Despite the increased number of reports of site-specific fungicide resistance and a recent report of multidrug resistance (MDR) in S. homoeocarpa field populations, the genetic mechanisms behind resistance or reduced sensitivity to fungicides remain poorly explained in the fungus. In order to prevent further development of fungicide resistance in the dollar spot pathosystem, a detailed elucidation of mechanisms of site-specific fungicide resistance and MDR is needed. In addition, the previous studies of MDR in fungi mostly focused on efflux …


The Key Question In Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation: How Does Host Maintain A Bacterial Symbiont?, Onur Oztas Jul 2017

The Key Question In Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation: How Does Host Maintain A Bacterial Symbiont?, Onur Oztas

Doctoral Dissertations

The fact that plants cannot use nitrogen in the gaseous form makes them dependent on the levels of usable nitrogen forms in the soil. Legumes overcome nitrogen limitation by entering a symbiotic association with rhizobia, soil bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable ammonia. In root nodules, bacteria are internalized by host plant cells inside an intracellular compartment called the symbiosome where they morphologically differentiate into nitrogen-fixing forms by symbiosome-secreted host proteins. In this project, I explained the host proteins required to maintain bacterial symbionts and described their delivery to the symbiosome. I showed that the SYNTAXIN 132 (SYP132) gene …


The Effect Of Management Practices On Bacterial, Fungal, And Nematode Communities On Cool Season Turfgrass, Elisha Allan-Perkins Jul 2017

The Effect Of Management Practices On Bacterial, Fungal, And Nematode Communities On Cool Season Turfgrass, Elisha Allan-Perkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Golf courses comprise 50 million acres in the United States of highly managed turf susceptible to abiotic and biotic stressors. A growing area of interest is utilizing microbes to improve plant growth, increase disease and stress tolerance, and reduce pathogens. In order to develop these new practices, we must gain an understanding of turfgrass microbial communities and how they are affected by management practices. We characterized bacteria, fungi, and nematodes on three golf courses: one organic, one with reduced inputs, and one conventional. We took samples from three management areas on each course representing different management intensities (roughs, fairways, and …


Evaluating The Role Of Glutathione In Detoxification Of Metal-Based Nanoparticles In Plants, Chuanxin Ma Nov 2016

Evaluating The Role Of Glutathione In Detoxification Of Metal-Based Nanoparticles In Plants, Chuanxin Ma

Doctoral Dissertations

The potential risks from metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) in the environment have increased with the rapidly rising demand for and use of nano-enabled consumer products. Plant’s central roles in ecosystem function and food chain integrity ensure intimate contact with water and soil systems, both of which are considered sinks for NPs accumulation. Thus, this dissertation describes three main objectives to comprehensively understand the interactions between plants and NPs and to characterize the role of glutathione (GSH) in detoxification of metal-based NPs in plants at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels. (1) The effects of cerium oxide (CeO2) and indium oxide …


Novel Advancements For Improving Sprout Safety, Kyle S. Landry Jul 2016

Novel Advancements For Improving Sprout Safety, Kyle S. Landry

Doctoral Dissertations

All varieties of bean sprouts (mung bean, alfalfa, broccoli, and radish) are classified as a “super-food” and are common staples for health conscious consumers. Along with the proposed health benefits, there is also an inherent risk of foodborne illness. When sprouts are cooked, there is little risk of illness. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore novel techniques to minimize or prevent the incidence of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of sprouts. Three areas were investigated: 1) the use of a biocontrol organism, 2) the use of a novel spontaneous carvacrol nanoemulsion, and 3) the influence of the …


Chemically Mediated Interactions Between Hosts, Parasitic Plants And Insect Herbivores, Muvari C. Tjiurutue Jul 2016

Chemically Mediated Interactions Between Hosts, Parasitic Plants And Insect Herbivores, Muvari C. Tjiurutue

Doctoral Dissertations

Species interactions, by changing phenotypic traits, can alter the outcome of subsequent interactions. Plant-mediated responses to herbivores have been extensively studied, but little is known about plant-mediated responses involving parasitic plants within a broader community context that also includes herbivores. Because parasitic plants are important components of many ecosystems and can shape community structure, it is important to understand how host-mediated interactions influence parasite preference and success. The goal of this thesis is to examine interactions between hosts, parasitic plants and herbivores mediated by chemical traits. We first examined the effects of dodder (Cuscuta sp.) parasitism on induced defenses …


Evaluation Of Spring Frost Control Methods And An Assessment Of Cold Hardiness In Cranberry (Vaccinium Macrocarporn Ait.), Faith Ndlovu Nov 2015

Evaluation Of Spring Frost Control Methods And An Assessment Of Cold Hardiness In Cranberry (Vaccinium Macrocarporn Ait.), Faith Ndlovu

Doctoral Dissertations

The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) is an important temperate woody shrub crop whose fruit has human health benefits. Cranberry acquires cold hardiness in the autumn and loses it in spring, following deacclimation. Frost protection is necessary in cranberry production as a means to reduce bud damage due to low spring temperatures. The objectives of the field studies were to evaluate two methods of sprinkler irrigation for frost protection, the conventional approach consisting of continuous irrigation throughout the night (CON) and intermittent cycling of sprinklers (INT) incorporating cycling on and off throughout the night, by (i) assessing bud damage …


Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole Nov 2015

Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

Soil quality has become a major factor used in assessing sustainable land management and the overall environmental quality, food security, and economic viability of agricultural lands. Recently, biochar has been touted as having many potential uses as a soil amendment for improving soil quality, specifically improving cation exchange capacity, pH and nutrient availability. However, soil biology also plays a significant role in biogeochemical processes that influence soil health and should be included in a more comprehensive study of soil health. This dissertation describes 4 projects within the same 3-year field study with the cumulative purpose of better understanding the effect …


Effects Of Overexpression Of Sap12 And Sap13 In Providing Tolerance To Multiple Abiotic Stresses In Plants, Parul R. Tomar Nov 2015

Effects Of Overexpression Of Sap12 And Sap13 In Providing Tolerance To Multiple Abiotic Stresses In Plants, Parul R. Tomar

Doctoral Dissertations

Environmental stresses are the one of the main reasons for the decline of crop production worldwide. In the past years, a major focus has been on improving plant species and their tolerance towards these stresses but not much has been achieved because of the limited knowledge of the gene/network of genes that might be involved in providing tolerance to such multiple abiotic stresses. Recently, members of Stress Associated Protein (SAP) family in plants have been shown to impart tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. There are 14 SAP genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and these proteins contain A20, AN1 and C2H2 zinc …


Understanding The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Pubudu Handakumbura Nov 2014

Understanding The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Pubudu Handakumbura

Doctoral Dissertations

Secondary cell wall synthesis occurs in specialized cell types following completion of cell enlargement. By virtue of mechanical strength provided by a wall thickened with cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, these cells can function as water-conducting vessels and provide structural support. Several transcription factor families regulate genes encoding wall synthesis enzymes. Certain NAC and MYB proteins directly bind upstream of structural genes and other transcription factors. The most detailed model of this regulatory network is established predominantly for a eudicot, Arabidopsis thaliana. In grasses, both the patterning and the composition of secondary cell walls are distinct from that of eudicots. …