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Induction of the plastidic starch-phosphorylase gene in potato storage sink tissue

Effect of sucrose and evidence for coordinated regulation of phosphorylase and starch biosynthetic genes

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Abstract

The expression of the gene encoding the plastidic enzyme starch phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) varies according to tissue carbohydrate status. Incubation of excised potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Désirée) leaves carrying a portion of the stem under a short photoperiod resulted in a drastic accumulation of starch, accompanied by a rapid increase in the level of phosphorylase mRNA and by a similar change in phosphorylase protein level. However, under the same incubation conditions, the transcriptional activity of the phosphorylase promoter in transgenic plants did not change markedly. Therefore, the increased expression of the phosphorylase gene in petioles of stem cuttings is not controlled by the level of initiation of transcription. Phosphorylase mRNA accumulated to a high level in petioles of detached leaves kept under constant light for 24 h, but not in petioles kept in the dark. The effect of light on the accumulation of the mRNA was appreciably reduced if the petioles were incubated in ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a treatment known to increase phloem exudation in detached leaves. The inhibition by EDTA could be partially counteracted by the addition of sucrose to the incubation solution. Furthermore, incubation of petioles in darkness in solutions with high levels of sucrose resulted in enhanced expression of the gene. These results suggest that sucrose, the main compound transported by phloem in potato, is involved in the regulation of the starch phosphorylase gene. This also indicates that conditions favouring starch synthesis lead to increased expression of the phosphorylase gene.

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Abbreviations

GUS:

β-glucuronidase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Montreal, H3C 3J7, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Benoit St-Pierre & Normand Brisson

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  1. Benoit St-Pierre
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  2. Normand Brisson
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Correspondence to Normand Brisson.

Additional information

We thank C. Marineau, C. Bertrand and M. Dehbi for helpful advices, and A. Camirand for reviewing the manuscript. This work was supported by the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC). B. St-P. was supported by a MRC studentship.

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St-Pierre, B., Brisson, N. Induction of the plastidic starch-phosphorylase gene in potato storage sink tissue. Planta 195, 339–344 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202590

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