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Identification of the transporter responsible for sucrose accumulation in sugar beet taproots

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 19:22 authored by Jung, B, Ludewig, F, Schulz, A, Meibner, G, Wostefeld, N, Flugge, U-I, Pommerrenig, B, Wirsching, P, Sauer, N, Koch, W, Sommer, F, Muhlhaus, T, Schroda, M, Tracey Cuin, Graus, D, Marten, I, Hedrich, R, Neuhaus, HE
Sugar beet provides around one third of the sugar consumed worldwide and serves as a significant source of bioenergy in the form of ethanol. Sucrose accounts for up to 18% of plant fresh weight in sugar beet. Most of the sucrose is concentrated in the taproot, where it accumulates in the vacuoles. Despite 30 years of intensive research, the transporter that facilitates taproot sucrose accumulation has escaped identification. Here, we combine proteomic analyses of the taproot vacuolar membrane, the tonoplast, with electrophysiological analyses to show that the transporter BvTST2.1 is responsible for vacuolar sucrose uptake in sugar beet taproots. We show that BvTST2.1 is a sucrose-specific transporter, and present evidence to suggest that it operates as a proton antiporter, coupling the import of sucrose into the vacuole to the export of protons. BvTST2.1 exhibits a high amino acid sequence similarity to members of the tonoplast monosaccharide transporter family in Arabidopsis, prompting us to rename this group of proteins ‘tonoplast sugar transporters’. The identification of BvTST2.1 could help to increase sugar yields from sugar beet and other sugar-storing plants in future breeding programs.

History

Publication title

Nature Plants

Article number

14001

Number

14001

Pagination

1-6

ISSN

2055-026X

Department/School

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Management of gaseous waste from plant production (excl. greenhouse gases)

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