Sucrose Synthase and Fructokinase Are Required for Proper Meristematic and Vascular Development

Nitsan Lugassi, Ofer Stein, Aiman Egbaria, Eduard Belausov, Hanita Zemach, Tal Arad, David Granot, Nir Carmi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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 languageEnglish
Article number1035
JournalPlants
Volume11
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Apr 2022
Externally publishedYes

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

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