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Comparison of a novel tomato sucrose synthase, SlSUS4, with previously described SlSUS isoforms reveals distinct sequence features and differential expression patterns in association with stem maturation

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Abstract

Sucrose synthase (SUS) plays a role in many contexts of sugar metabolism, including low-oxygen and low-ATP respiration and the synthesis of cellulose. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), as in many plants, SUS is encoded by genes at several independent loci. Here, we report the isolation of a novel tomato SUS (SlSUS) isoform, SlSUS4, that is homologous to potato SUS isoform 1 (StSUS1) and also shows greater homology to SUS isoforms of other plants than to the other tomato SUS isoforms. All three tomato isoforms are very similar in genomic structure and sequence, yet each is located on a separate chromosome. Real-time expression analysis of the three distinct isoforms revealed widely varying patterns of expression, in terms of both tissue specificity and overall magnitude of expression. Analysis of SlSUS expression along the tomato stem revealed opposing expression gradients for two of the SlSUS isoforms, in apparent correlation with vascular tissue maturation. Western-blot analysis of SlSUS protein showed an increasing SlSUS concentration gradient along the developmental axis of the tomato stem, with the protein concentrated mainly in the vascular tissue of the stem. These gene expression and protein accumulation patterns indicate that each isoform may play a discrete role in the development of tomato plants, most notably in the development of vascular tissue in the stem.

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Abbreviations

SUS:

Sucrose synthase

IL:

Introgression line

RFLP:

Restriction fragment length polymorphism

FRK:

Fructokinases

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Leonid Mourakhovsky for his dedicated and diligent care of the tomato plants grown for this research. This research was supported by Research Grant No. 890/06 from The Israel Science Foundation and by Research Grants No. IS-3397-06 and No. CA-9100-06 from BARD, the United States–Israel Binational Agricultural and Development Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, 50250, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Shlomo Goren & David Granot

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Shlomo Goren

  3. Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Steven C. Huber

Authors
  1. Shlomo Goren
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  2. Steven C. Huber
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  3. David Granot
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Correspondence to David Granot.

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Contribution from the Agriculture Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel, No. 123/2010 series.

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Goren, S., Huber, S.C. & Granot, D. Comparison of a novel tomato sucrose synthase, SlSUS4, with previously described SlSUS isoforms reveals distinct sequence features and differential expression patterns in association with stem maturation. Planta 233, 1011–1023 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-011-1356-5

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