On the mechanism of starch accumulation in tissues surrounding spots in leaves of rice plants due to the attack of Cochliobolus miyabeanus

The starch stored temporarily in the leaf sheath of rice plants is translocated to the grain, contributing to the grain yield. In this paper, the relationship between starch accumulation and the activities of enzymes involved in the starch biosynthetic pathway in the leaf sheaths of rice plants was examined to elucidate the regulation mechanism of starch accumulation in the temporary sink organ. When the starch content was compared between different leaf sheath positions on the main stem, the 14th leaf sheath counted from the bottom, which elongated just before anthesis, showed about a four-fold higher value than the 10th leaf sheath. Among the enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, the activity of starch branching enzyme (BE, EC2.4.1.18) was greatly higher in the 14th leaf sheath than in the 10th leaf sheath, while that of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase (EC2.7.7.27) was similar between the two leaf sheaths. The starch content increased rapidly in the period around anthesis in the 12th and 14th leaf sheaths, but did not in the 10th and 11th leaf sheath. In the higher leaf sheath position, the activity of BE changed with noticeably similar trend to the starch content. Soluble starch synthase (SSS, EC2.4.1.21), granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS, EC2.4.1.21) and plastidial fructose- 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase, EC3.1.3.11) were also significantly correlated with the starch content. These results suggest that BE is involved in regulation of starch metabolism, possibly in collaboration with other enzymes such as SSS, GBSS and plastidial FBPase in temporary sink organs like the leaf sheath.

Download Full-text

Coordinated overexpression of OsSUT1, OsSWEET11 and OsSWEET14 in rice impairs carbohydrate metabolism that has implications in plant growth, yield and susceptibility to Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo)

10.1101/2021.01.07.425507 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jitender Singh ◽

Donald James ◽

V Mohan Murali Achary ◽

Manish Kumar Patel ◽

Jitendra K. Thakur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Growth And Development ◽

Sugar Content ◽

Xanthomonas Oryzae ◽

Transcriptional Analysis ◽

Starch Accumulation ◽

Growth Media ◽

Sucrose Transport ◽

Long Distance ◽

Rice Plants

Enhancing carbohydrate export to sink tissues is considered as a feasible approach for improving photosynthetic efficiency and crop yield. In Oryza sativa Sucrose Transporter OsSUT1 located in companion cells and Sugars Will Eventually be Exported Transporters (SWEETs); OsSWEET11 and OsSWEET14 present in phloem parenchyma mesophyll cell plasma membranes are involved in long distance sucrose transport. OsSWEET11 and OsSWEET14 also play important role in host-pathogen interaction of rice plants and Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo) that causes bacterial leaf blight. Three genes, OsSUT1, OsSWEET11, and OsSWEET14 were overexpressed under the control of their native promoters in rice to modulate long distance sugar transport and disease resistance. The transgenics displayed several phenotypic aberrations such as reduced plant height and seed weight due to altered sucrose transport and metabolism. Lower sucrose transport rate in transgenics than the WT resulted in reduced sucrose, fructose and glucose and increased starch accumulation in their leaves at the end of dark period. Transcriptional analysis revealed a reduction in the expression of genes involved in sucrose synthesis pathway in transgenics. Normal growth and development of transgenic seedlings were restored in growth media supplemented with 3% sucrose demonstrating in planta sucrose limitation. Remarkably, transgenic lines had diminished susceptibility to Xoo than the WTs due to low sugar content in the leaves demonstrating that rice plants maintain an optimum level of SWEETs for proper plant growth and development, and upregulation of these SWEETs in rice mimicks Xoo attack impelling plants to reduce sugar content in the apoplasm to inhibit pathogen growth.

Download Full-text