InterPro domain: IPR005150

Cellulose, an aggregate of unbranched polymers of beta-1,4-linked glucose residues, is the major component of wood and thus paper, and is synthesized by plants, most algae, some bacteria and fungi, and even some animals. The genes that synthesize cellulose in higher plants differ greatly from the well-characterised genes found in Acetobacter and Agrobacterium spp. More correctly designated as "cellulose synthase catalytic subunits", plant cellulose synthase (CesA) proteins are integral membrane proteins, approximately 1,000 amino acids in length. There are a number of highly conserved residues, including several motifs shown to be necessary for processive glycosyltransferase activity [ 1 ].

1. Higher plants contain homologs of the bacterial celA genes encoding the catalytic subunit of cellulose synthase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93, 12637-42