Fig. 6

PbrNSC activates the expression of secondary cell wall formation genes. a, b Four-week-old WT Arabidopsis plants and nst1/nst3 mutant plants with PbrNSC, PbrNSC LP, or PbrNSC WQ transgene. PbrNSC LP and PbrNSC WQ are variants of PbrNSC with deletion of the LP- and WQ-box, respectively. The transgene expression was driven by the AtNST3 promoter (3.0 kb). Bar = 5 cm. c Lignin and cellulose content in inflorescence stems of 8-week-old Arabidopsis plants. Each value is means ± SD (n ≥ 11 biological replicates). Different letters indicate significant differences between groups (P < 0.05, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD post hoc test). d Cross-sections of inflorescence stems of 8-week-old plants stained with Wiesner, Mäule, and Congo Red for viewing G-lignin, S-lignin, and cellulose, respectively. The sections were also viewed under UV light for detecting total lignin. Bar = 200 μm. xy, xylem; if, interfascicular fiber. A representative picture from each line is shown