Dimers and trimers of ferulic acid have been identified in secondary cell-walls of gramineous plants through biochemical analyses. Though these compounds enhance the mechanical properties of the cell-walls, they have drawbacks : they not only alter the digestibility of forages and make the pulp production energy-consuming, but they are also a limiting-factor in biofuel conversion of lignocellulosic biomass.As part of our studies of secondary cell-walls of gramineous plants, we created new methodologies to produce these dimers and trimers in large quantities. After functionalization, the compounds were coupled with a carrier protein (BSA/OVA) via reductive amination for the production of specific antibodies. These antibodies were then used to quantify and study the spatial localization of the dimers/trimers in the cell-walls through immuhistochemistry techniques.Hopefully, these new antibodies will help us to unveil the relationships between the cell-wall degradability and the nature and localization of the dimers/trimers in the gramineous plants.

Design and synthesis of proteins bearing dimers/trimer of ferulic acid: Creation of antibodies and immunohistochemistry in plant cells

244th National Meeting (2012)

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