Waxes wild type

Despite the sequence similarity between the CERl and GLl proteins, their biochemical function is unclear since mutations at each gene affect the respective cuticles differently. CERl has been predicted to code for an aldehyde decarbonylase (Aarts et al., 1995), an enzyme required for the production of the alkane fraction of the cuticular waxes of this species. Indeed, mutations at the CERl locus cause an enrichment of the aldehydes and a depletion of the alkanes and alkane-derived metabolites (ketones and secondary alcohols). In maize however, its unlikely that gll codes for an aldehyde decarbonylase. This conclusion is based upon the fact that alkanes account for a very small portion of the cuticular waxes of wild-type maize seedlings (about 1%), and because mutations at the gll locus qualitatively and/or quantitatively affect the accumulation of fatty aldehydes, alcohols, and the ester components of the maize cuticular waxes. Therefore, even though the GLl and CERl proteins share similar structures, they may in fact perform different functions in cuticular wax biosynthesis. Alternatively, both proteins may perform similar, but as yet unidentified, function(s). 

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