Abstract
Sucrose synthase (SuSy) and fructokinase (FRK) work together to control carbohydrate flux in sink tissues. SuSy cleaves sucrose into fructose and UDP-glucose; whereas FRK phosphorylates fructose. Previous results have shown that suppression of the SUS1,3&4 genes by SUS-RNAi alters auxin transport in the shoot apical meristems of tomato plants and affects cotyledons and leaf structure; whereas antisense suppression of FRK2 affects vascular development. To explore the joint developmental roles of SuSy and FRK, we crossed SUS-RNAi plants with FRK2-antisense plants to create double-mutant plants. The double-mutant plants exhibited novel phenotypes that were absent from the parent lines. About a third of the plants showed arrested shoot apical meristem around the transition to flowering and developed ectopic meristems. Use of the auxin reporter DR5::VENUS revealed a significantly reduced auxin response in the shoot apical meristems of the double-mutant, indicating that auxin levels were low. Altered inflorescence phyllotaxis and significant disorientation of vascular tissues were also observed. In addition, the fruits and the seeds of the double-mutant plants were very small and the seeds had very low germination rates. These results show that SUS1,3&4 and FRK2 enzymes are jointly essential for proper meristematic and vascular development, and for fruit and seed development.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1035 |
Journal | Plants |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 11 Apr 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- auxin
- phyllotaxis
- shoot apical meristem
- sugar metabolism
- trichomes density
- vascular tissues development
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Ecology
- Plant Science