Dissecting role of sucrose and GA recognition in SWEET transporters

• Project/Area Number: 19H00932
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 38:Agricultural chemistry and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Frommer Wolf 名古屋大学, トランスフォーマティブ生命分子研究所, 客員教授 (70795575)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥45,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥35,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥10,500,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥15,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,660,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥14,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥10,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,240,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥15,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,600,000)
• Keywords: Sucrose / Gibberellin / SWEET / substrate selectivity / Phytohormone / Gibberellic acid / Sugar / SWEETs / Transporter / Gibberelllic acid

Outline of Research at the Start

Sugars and phytohormones are essential to the fundamental processes of plant development and growth. It has remained unclear, however, how SWEETs can transport substrates as different as sucrose and GA. We will focus and clarify the substrate selectivity of GA and sucrose transporting SWEETs.

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Substrate selectivity of transporters is critical to accomplish the complex systems in biological processes. However, the molecular mechanisms of substrate selectivity of transporters have not been fully elucidated. SWEETs play essential roles through the transport activity for sucrose and/or glucose. In addition to sugars, SWEETs can transport GA, a hormone that regulates many important aspects of plant growth. Sugars and phytohormones are essential to the fundamental processes of plant development and growth. It has remained unclear, however, which spectrum of substrates SWEETs can transport, and how SWEETs can transport substrates as different as sucrose and GA. In this project, we investigated the substrate selectivity of GA and sucrose transporting SWEETs using computational and biochemical approaches. We have determined the residues responsible for GA and sucrose recognition in SWEETs and whether sucrose and GA are physiologically relevant for male fertility in Arabidopsis.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

酵素や輸送体は無数の基質と相互作用するが、その中で生理的に意義があるものはごくわずかである。SWEETの基質選択性の分子メカニズムや輸送活性の生理的意義を解析することで、輸送体や酵素の持つ複数の基質活性の理解が深まる。本研究で得られた知見は、農薬や抗菌剤の開発などの創薬分野にも役に立つと考えられる。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] <i>OsSWEET11b</i>, a potential sixth leaf blight susceptibility gene involved in sugar transport‐dependent male fertility (2022)
  • Author(s): Wu L-B, Eom J-S, Isoda R, Li C, Char SN, Luo D, Schepler‐Luu V, Nakamura M, Yang B, Frommer WB
  • Journal Title: New Phytologist Volume: 234 Issue: 3 Pages: 975-989
  • DOI: 10.1111/nph.18054
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Advances in Synthetic Fluorescent Probe Labeling for Live-Cell Imaging in Plants (2021)
  • Author(s): Yagi N, Yoshinari A, Iwatate RJ, Isoda R, Frommer WB, Nakamura M
  • Journal Title: Plant and Cell Physiology Volume: 62 Issue: 8 Pages: 1259-1268
  • DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcab104
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Sensors for the quantification, localization and analysis of the dynamics of plant hormones (2020)
  • Author(s): Isoda Reika、Yoshinari Akira、Ishikawa Yuuma、Sadoine Mayuri、Simon Rudiger、Frommer Wolf B.、Nakamura Masayoshi
  • Journal Title: The Plant Journal Volume: 105 Issue: 2 Pages: 542-557
  • DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15096
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research