The sugar transporter ZmSUGCAR1 of the Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter family is critical for maize grain filling.

Yang, Bo; Wang, Jing; Yu, Miao; Zhang, Meiling; Zhong, Yanting; Wang, Tianyi; Liu, Peng; Song, Weibin; Zhao, Haiming; Fastner, Astrid; Suter, Marianne; Rentsch, Doris; Ludewig, Uwe; Jin, Weiwei; Geiger, Dietmar; Hedrich, Rainer; Braun, David M; Koch, Karen E; McCarty, Donald R; Wu, Wei-Hua; ... (2022). The sugar transporter ZmSUGCAR1 of the Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter family is critical for maize grain filling. The plant cell, 34(11), pp. 4232-4254. Oxford University Press 10.1093/plcell/koac256

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Maternal-to-filial nutrition transfer is central to grain development and yield. Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter (NRT1-PTR)-type transporters typically transport nitrate, peptides and ions. Here, we report the identification of a maize (Zea mays) NRT1-PTR-type transporter that transports sucrose and glucose. The activity of this sugar transporter, named Sucrose and Glucose Carrier 1 (SUGCAR1), was systematically verified by tracer-labelled sugar uptake and serial electrophysiological studies including two-electrode voltage-clamp, non-invasive microelectrode ion flux estimation assays in Xenopus laevis oocytes and patch clamping in HEK293T cells. ZmSUGCAR1 is specifically expressed in the basal endosperm transfer layer and loss-of-function mutation of ZmSUGCAR1 caused significantly decreased sucrose and glucose contents and subsequent shrinkage of maize kernels. Notably, the ZmSUGCAR1 orthologues SbSUGCAR1 (from Sorghum bicolor) and TaSUGCAR1 (from Triticum aestivum) displayed similar sugar transport activities in oocytes, supporting the functional conservation of SUGCAR1 in closely related cereal species. Thus, the discovery of ZmSUGCAR1 uncovers a type of sugar transporter essential for grain development and opens potential avenues for genetic improvement of seed-filling and yield in maize and other grain crops.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Molecular Plant Physiology
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)

UniBE Contributor:

Fastner, Astrid Walburga, Suter, Marianne, Rentsch, Doris

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

1532-298X

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

02 Sep 2022 15:46

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 07:45

Publisher DOI:

10.1093/plcell/koac256

PubMed ID:

36047828

Uncontrolled Keywords:

K+ transport ZmSUGCAR1 grain filling sucrose sugar transporter

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/172624

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/172624

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