Antisense suppression of an acid invertase gene (MAI1) in muskmelon alters plant growth and fruit development

To unravel the roles of soluble acid invertase in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.), its activity in transgenic muskmelon plants was reduced by an antisense approach. For this purpose, a 1038 bp cDNA fragment of muskmelon soluble acid invertase was expressed in antisense orientation behind the 35S promoter of the cauliflower mosaic virus. The phenotype of the antisense plants clearly differed from that of control plants. The transgenic plant leaves were markedly smaller, and the stems were obviously thinner. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that degradation of the chloroplast membrane occurred in transgenic leaves and the number of grana in the chloroplast was significantly reduced, suggesting that the slow growth and weaker phenotype of the transgenic plants may be due to damage to the chloroplast ultrastructure, which in turn resulted in a decrease in net photosynthetic rate. The sucrose concentration increased and levels of acid invertase decreased in transgenic fruit, and the fruit size was 60% smaller than that of the control. In addition, transgenic fruit reached full-slip at 25 d after pollination (DAP), approximately 5 d before the control fruit (full-slip at 30 DAP), and this accelerated maturity correlated with a dramatic elevation of ethylene production at the later stages of fruit development. Together, these results suggest that soluble acid invertase not only plays an important role during muskmelon plant and fruit development but also controls the sucrose content in muskmelon fruit.     

Soluble acid invertase determines the hexose-to-sucrose ratio in cold-stored potato tubers

Cold storage of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers is known to cause accumulation of reducing sugars. Hexose accumulation has been shown to be cultivar-dependent and proposed to be the result of sucrose hydrolysis via invertase. To study whether hexose accumulation is indeed related to the amount of invertase activities, two different approaches were used: (i) neutral and acidic invertase activities as well as soluble sugars were measured in cold-stored tubers of 24 potato cultivars differing in the cold-induced accumulation of reducing sugars and (ii) antisense potato plants with reduced soluble acid invertase activities were created and the soluble sugar accumulation in cold-stored tubers was studied. The cold-induced hexose accumulation in tubers from the different potato cultivars varied strongly (up to eightfold). Large differences were also detected with respect to soluble acid (50-fold) and neutral (5-fold) invertase activities among the different cultivars. Although there was almost no correlation between the total amount of invertase activity and the accumulation of reducing sugars there was a striking correlation between the hexose/sucrose ratio and the extractable soluble invertase activitiy. To exclude the possibility that other cultivar-specific features could account for the obtained results, the antisense approach was used to decrease the amount of soluble acid invertase activity in a uniform genetic background. To this end the cDNA of a cold-inducible soluble acid invertase (EMBL nucleicacid database accession no. X70368) was cloned from the cultivar Desirée, and transgenic potato plants were created expressing this cDNA in the antisense orientation under control of the constitutive 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promotor. Analysis of the harvested and cold-stored tubers showed that inhibition of the soluble acid invertase activity leads to a decreased hexose and an increased sucrose content compared with controls. As was already found for the different potato cultivars the hexose/sucrose ratio decreased with decreasing invertase activities but the total amount of soluble sugars did not significantly change. From these data we conclude that invertases do not control the total amount of soluble sugars in coldstored potato tubers but are involved in the regulation of the ratio of hexose to sucrose.The authors are grateful to Heike Deppner and Christiane Prüßner for tuber harvest and technical assistance during the further analysis. We thank Andrea Knospe for taking care of tissue culture, Birgit Schäfer for patient photographic work, Hellmuth Fromme and the greenhouse personnel for attending plant growth and development and Astrid Basner for elucidating the sequence of clone INV-19. The work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (BMFT).     

Suppression of Acid Invertase Activity by Antisense RNA Modifies the Sugar Composition of Tomato Fruit

cDNA for an acid invertase (EC 3.2.1.26 [EC] ) of tomato (Lycopersiconesculentum Mill.) fruit was introduced into tomato plants underthe control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter inthe antisense orientation. The antisense gene effectively suppressedthe invertase activity in soluble and cell wall fractions fromripening fruits. The sucrose content of fruits of the transformantswas markedly increased, while the hexose content was reduced.These results indicate that acid invertase is one of main determinantsof the sugar composition of tomato fruit. The invertase activityin the cell wall fraction of the leaf tissues of the transformantswas not suppressed to the same extent as that in the solublefraction. Wounding of the control leaf tissues induced invertaseactivity in both soluble and cell wall fractions. The inductionof activity in the soluble fraction was suppressed by the antisensegene, while that in the cell wall fraction was unaffected. Thesefindings suggest that mRNA for some other invertase, in particular,the mRNA for a cell wall-bound invertase, was present in leaves. ¹Present address: Plant Breeding and Genetics Research Laboratory,Japan Tobacco Inc., 700 Higashibara, Toyoda, Iwata, Shizuoka,438 Japan. ²Present address: National Institute of Agrobiological Resources,Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 Japan.     

Antisense inhibition of tomato fruit sucrose synthase decreases fruit setting and the sucrose unloading capacity of young fruit

The role of sucrose synthase (SuSy) in tomato fruit was studied in transgenic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants expressing an antisense fragment of fruit-specific SuSy RNA (TOMSSF) under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Constitutive expression of the antisense RNA markedly inhibited SuSy activity in flowers and fruit pericarp tissues. However, inhibition was only slight in the endosperm and was undetectable in the embryo, shoot, petiole, and leaf tissues. The activity of sucrose phosphate synthase decreased in parallel with that of SuSy, but acid invertase activity did not increase in response to the reduced SuSy activity. The only effect on the carbohydrate content of young fruit was a slight reduction in starch accumulation. The in vitro sucrose import capacity of fruits was not reduced by SuSy inhibition at 23 days after anthesis, and the rate of starch synthesized from the imported sucrose was not lessened even when SuSy activity was decreased by 98%. However, the sucrose unloading capacity of 7-day-old fruit was substantially decreased in lines with low SuSy activity. In addition, the SuSy antisense fruit from the first week of flowering had a slower growth rate. A reduced fruit set, leading to markedly less fruit per plant at maturity, was observed for the plants with the least SuSy activity. These results suggest that SuSy participates in the control of sucrose import capacity of young tomato fruit, which is a determinant for fruit set and development.     

Antisense repression of vacuolar and cell wall invertase in transgenic carrot alters early plant development and sucrose partitioning.

To unravel the functions of cell wall and vacuolar invertases in carrot, we used an antisense technique to generate transgenic carrot plants with reduced enzyme activity. Phenotypic alterations appeared at very early stages of development; indeed, the morphology of cotyledon-stage embryos was markedly changed. At the stage at which control plantlets had two to three leaves and one primary root, shoots of transgenic plantlets did not separate into individual leaves but consisted of stunted, interconnected green structures. When transgenic plantlets were grown on media containing a mixture of sucrose, glucose, and fructose rather than sucrose alone, the malformation was alleviated, and plantlets looked normal. Plantlets from hexose-containing media produced mature plants when transferred to soil. Plants expressing antisense mRNA for cell wall invertase had a bushy appearance due to the development of extra leaves, which accumulated elevated levels of sucrose and starch. Simultaneously, tap root development was markedly reduced, and the resulting smaller organs contained lower levels of carbohydrates. Compared with control plants, the dry weight leaf-to-root ratio of cell wall invertase antisense plants was shifted from 1:3 to 17:1. Plants expressing antisense mRNA for vacuolar invertase also had more leaves than did control plants, but tap roots developed normally, although they were smaller, and the leaf-to-root ratio was 1.5:1. Again, the carbohydrate content of leaves was elevated, and that of roots was reduced. Our data suggest that acid invertases play an important role in early plant development, most likely via control of sugar composition and metabolic fluxes. Later in plant development, both isoenzymes seem to have important functions in sucrose partitioning.     

A role for 'futile cycles' involving invertase and sucrose synthase in sucrose metabolism of tomato fruit.

Current concepts of the factors determining sink strength and the subsequent regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in tomato fruit are based upon an understanding of the relative roles of sucrose synthase, sucrose phosphate synthase and invertase, derived from studies in mutants and transformed plants. These enzymes participate in at least four futile cycles that involve sugar transport between the cytosol, vacuole and apoplast. Key reactions are (1) the continuous rapid degradation of sucrose in the cytosol by sucrose synthase (SuSy), (2) sucrose re-synthesis via either SuSy or sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), (3) sucrose hydrolysis in the vacuole or apoplast by acid invertase, (4) subsequent transport of hexoses to the cytosol where they are once more converted into sucrose, and (5) rapid synthesis and breakdown of starch in the amyloplast. In this way futile cycles of sucrose/hexose interchange govern fruit sugar content and composition. The major function of the high and constant invertase activity in red tomato fruit is, therefore, to maintain high cellular hexose concentrations, the hydrolysis of sucrose in the vacuole and in the intercellular space allowing more efficient storage of sugar in these compartments. Vacuolar sugar storage may be important in sustaining fruit cell growth at times when less sucrose is available for the sink organs because of exhaustion of the carbohydrate pools in source leaves.     

Inheritance and genetic mapping of fruit sucrose accumulation in Lycopersicon chmielewskii

Fruit of the domestic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) accumulate soluble sugars primarily in the form of the hexoses, glucose and fructose. In contrast, the predominant sugar in fruit of the wild tomato relative, L. chmielewskii, is sucrose. In the present study, the inheritance and linkage relations of sucrose accumulation were examined in interspecific L. esculentum x L. chmielewskii populations. In backcrosses to either the wild or domestic tomato, segregation for sucrose accumulation permitted qualitative analysis of the trait and indicated monogenic recessive control, although deviations from Mendelian inheritance were observed in some populations. This major gene, designated sucr, was mapped in F₂, F₃, and BC₁F₂ populations using a set of 95 informative RFLP and isozyme markers covering the tomato genome. A map location near the centromere of chromosome 3 was established, with tight linkage to the genomic clone TG102. Association of sucrose accumulation with yellow fruit, encoded by an allele of the r gene, permitted alignment with the classical map, thereby confirming the map location of sucr. A linkage map of the region surrounding sucr was obtained by monitoring recombination between flanking markers in the back-crosses to tomato. A cDNA clone of tomato fruit acid invertase, TIV1, was mapped to TG102 and sucr, with no recombination between the two RFLP markers observed in over 1700 meiotic products. Despite the tight linkage, TG102 and TIV1 hybridize to distinct restriction fragments, hence do not represent the same gene. The genetic data strongly suggest that sucr is an allele of the invertase gene and thus support previous biochemical studies that demonstrated low invertase activity in sucrose-accumulating fruit. L. hisutum, another low-invertase, sucrose-accumulating species, was hybridized with L. chmielewskii and the resulting F₁ plants accumulated sucrose, indicating that genetic control of soluble sugar composition is conserved in these two species.     

Heterologous expression of the apple hexose transporter MdHT2.2 altered sugar concentration with increasing cell wall invertase activity in tomato fruit

Sugar transporters are necessary to transfer hexose from cell wall spaces into parenchyma cells to boost hexose accumulation to high concentrations in fruit. Here, we have identified an apple hexose transporter (HTs), MdHT2.2, located in the plasma membrane, which is highly expressed in mature fruit. In a yeast system, the MdHT2.2 protein exhibited high ¹⁴C‐fructose and ¹⁴C‐glucose transport activity. In transgenic tomato heterologously expressing MdHT2.2, the levels of both fructose and glucose increased significantly in mature fruit, with sugar being unloaded via the apoplastic pathway, but the level of sucrose decreased significantly. Analysis of enzyme activity and the expression of genes related to sugar metabolism and transport revealed greatly up‐regulated expression of SlLIN5, a key gene encoding cell wall invertase (CWINV), as well as increased CWINV activity in tomatoes transformed with MdHT2.2. Moreover, the levels of fructose, glucose and sucrose recovered nearly to those of the wild type in the sllin5‐edited mutant of the MdHT2.2‐expressing lines. However, the overexpression of MdHT2.2 decreased hexose levels and increased sucrose levels in mature leaves and young fruit, suggesting that the response pathway for the apoplastic hexose signal differs among tomato tissues. The present study identifies a new HTs in apple that is able to take up fructose and glucose into cells and confirms that the apoplastic hexose levels regulated by HT controls CWINV activity to alter carbohydrate partitioning and sugar content.     

Enzymic Components of Sucrose Accumulation in the Wild Tomato Species Lycopersicon peruvianum

Sugar and soluble solids content and invertase (EC 3.2.1.26), sucrose synthase (EC 2.4.1.13), and sucrose phosphate synthase (EC 2.4.1.14) enzyme activities were measured throughout fruit development in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and the green fruited species Lycopersicon peruvianum. Fruit of L. peruvianum accumulated predominantly sucrose, in contrast with hexose accumulation, which is characteristic of L. esculentum. The percentage of soluble solids in ripe L. peruvianum fruit was more than twice that present in L. esculentum and attributed primarily to the high level of sucrose accumulated in L. peruvianum. Low levels of invertase and sucrose synthase activity were associated with the period of significant sucrose accumulation and storage in L. peruvianum. Increased sucrose phosphate synthase activity was observed during the latter stages of fruit development in sucrose-accumulating fruit but was not coincident with maximum rates of sucrose accumulation.     

Suppressing expression of a soluble acid invertase (BoINV2) in broccoli (Brassica oleracea) delays postharvest floret senescence and downregulates cysteine protease (BoCP5) transcription

We report on the production and selection of transgenic Brassica oleracea var. Italica lines with a downregulated soluble acid invertase ( BoINV2 ). Explants of broccoli (cv. Triathlon) were transformed with an antisense construct of BoINV2 under the control of an Asparagus officinalis -derived harvest-induced promoter using Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation. BoINV2 is upregulated in wild-type broccoli floret tissue after harvest. Transgenic broccoli lines showed reduced BoINV2 mRNA accumulation immediately after harvest compared with wild-type. Downregulation of BoINV2 had no significant impact on the expression of a second broccoli acid invertase gene ( BoINV1 ), but plants with downregulated BoINV2 also had lower expression of a senescence-associated cysteine protease ( BoCP5 ) compared with wild-type. The total soluble sugar levels in floret tissue of antisense BoINV2 lines were greater than wild-type tissue after harvest (up to 1.5 times higher). Soluble protein content of wild-type tissue decreased from 48 h after harvest with an increase in protease activity. In comparison, two antisense BoINV2 lines retained at-harvest levels of soluble protein until 72 and 96 h after harvest and had lower postharvest endoprotease activity compared with wild-type. Antisense BoINV2 lines also had a slower rate of floret sepal chlorosis after harvest compared with wild-type.     

Sucrose uptake,invertase localization and gene expression in developing fruit of Lycopersicon esculentum and the sucrose-accumulating Lycopersicon hirsutum

By using immunolocalization and differential extraction methods we show that only apoplastic invertase, but not vacuolar invertase, was present in the mature, sucrose-accumulating L. hirsutum pericarp. In contrast, in the hexose-accumulating L. esculentum fruit, both the apoplastic and vacuolar invertase activities and protein content increase in the mature fruit. Quantitative expression studies of the soluble invertase gene (TIV1) and the apoplastic invertase genes (LINs) showed that only TIV1 gene expression could account for the species and developmental differences of both soluble and insoluble enzyme activity of the pericarp. The expression of the LIN genes encoding for apoplastic tomato invertases was unrelated to the differences in bound enzyme activity and could not account for the rise in bound invertase activity in the mature L. esculentum fruit. Evidence is presented that the bound invertase activity of tomato fruit is also the TIV1 gene product. The presence of apoplastic invertase in the mature sucrose-accumulating L. hirsutum fruit suggests a hydrolysis-resynthesis mechanism of sucrose uptake. In order to test this hypothesis, we studied short- and long-term uptakes of asymmetrically labelled ³H-fructosyl-sucrose accompanied by compartmental analysis of the sugars in attached whole fruits of L. hirsutum and L. esculentum. The results indicate that hydrolysis-resynthesis is slow in the sucrose-accumulating fruit but is not an integral part of an uptake and compartmentation mechanism.     

Hexokinase as a sugar sensor in higher plants.

The mechanisms by which higher plants recognize and respond to sugars are largely unknown. Here, we present evidence that the first enzyme in the hexose assimilation pathway, hexokinase (HXK), acts as a sensor for plant sugar responses. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing antisense hexokinase (AtHXK) genes are sugar hyposensitive, whereas plants overexpressing AtHXK are sugar hypersensitive. The transgenic plants exhibited a wide spectrum of altered sugar responses in seedling development and in gene activation and repression. Furthermore, overexpressing the yeast sugar sensor YHXK2 caused a dominant negative effect by elevating HXK catalytic activity but reducing sugar sensitivity in transgenic plants. The result suggests that HXK is a dual-function enzyme with a distinct regulatory function not interchangeable between plants and yeast.     

Sink Metabolism in Tomato Fruit : IV. Genetic and Biochemical Analysis of Sucrose Accumulation

Fruit of domesticated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) accumulate primarily glucose and fructose, whereas some wild tomato species, including Lycopersicon chmielewskii, accumulate sucrose. Genetic analysis of progeny resulting from a cross between L. chmielewskii and L. esculentum indicated that the sucrose-accumulating trait could be stably transferred and that the trait was controlled by the action of one or two recessive genes. Biochemical analysis of progeny resulting from this cross indicated that the sucrose-accumulating trait was associated with greatly reduced levels of acid invertase, but normal levels of sucrose synthase. Invertase from hexose-accumulating fruit was purified and could be resolved into three isoforms by chromatofocusing, each with isoelectric points between 5.1 and 5.5. The invertase isoforms showed identical polypeptide profiles on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, consisting of a primary 52 kilodalton polypeptide and two lower molecular mass polypeptides that appear to be degradation products of the 52 kilodalton polypeptide. The three invertase isoforms were indistinguishable based on pH, temperature, and substrate concentration dependence. Immunological detection of invertase indicated that the low level of invertase in sucrose-accumulating fruit was due to low levels of invertase protein rather than the presence of an invertase inhibitor. Based on comparison of genetic and biochemical data we speculate that a gene either encoding tomato fruit acid invertase or one required for its expression, plays an important role in determining sucrose accumulation.     

A sucrose binding protein homologue from soybean affects sucrose uptake in suspension-cultured transgenic tobacco cells

We have obtained Nicotiana tabacum transgenic cell lines expressing a sucrose binding protein (sbp) homologue gene from soybean (Glycine max L.), designated s-64, either in the sense or antisense orientation. Sense cell lines over-accumulated the S-64 protein, whereas the antisense cell lines had reduced levels of the endogenous homologue protein. Sucrose uptake experiments were conducted by incubating suspension-cultured tobacco cells with radiolabeled sucrose at pH 4.5 or 7.0. Raising the extracellular pH to 7.0 caused an inhibition of radiolabeled carbon uptake efficiency, which was attributed to the pH-sensitivity of cell-wall invertase (EC 3.2.1.26), H⁺/hexose transporter and/or H⁺/sucrose symporter activities. Because SBP-mediated sucrose uptake has been shown to be insensitive to extracellular pH in yeast, we performed the sucrose uptake experiments in sense and antisense cultured cells at pH 7.0. Under this condition, the level of SBP homologue correlated with the efficiency of radiolabeled uptake by the transgenic tobacco cells. Furthermore, manipulation of S-64 levels altered sucrose-cleaving activities in a metabolic compensatory manner. Enhanced accumulation of S-64 caused an increase in intracellular sucrose synthase (cleavage, EC 2.4.1.13) activity with a concomitant decline in cell-wall invertase activity. This result may reflect a metabolic adjustment of the sense cell lines caused by its high efficiency of direct sucrose uptake as disaccharide. In contrast, the level of cell-wall invertase activity was remarkably increased in antisense cells, favoring the invertase-dependent sugar uptake system. Collectively, these results may establish a functional link between radiolabeled influx and S-64 accumulation, suggesting that SBP affects sucrose uptake in suspension-cultured cells.     

Transgenic tomato plants with decreased sucrose synthase are unaltered in starch and sugar accumulation in the fruit

Sucrose is the photoassimilate transported from the leaves to the fruit of tomato yet the fruit accumulates predominantly glucose and fructose. Hydrolysis of sucrose entering the fruit can be accomplished by invertase or sucrose synthase. Early in tomato fruit development there is a transient increase in sucrose synthase activity and starch which is correlated with fruit growth and sink strength suggesting a regulatory role for sucrose synthase in sugar import. Using an antisense sucrose synthase cDNA under the control of a fruit-specific promoter we show that sucrose synthase activity can be reduced by up to 99% in young fruit without affecting starch or sugar accumulation. This result calls into question the importance of sucrose synthase in regulating sink strength in tomato fruit.     

Soluble acid invertase activity in leaves is independent of species differences in leaf carbohydrates, diurnal sugar profiles and paths of phloem loading

Leaf sucrose, starch, hexose and maximum extractable soluble acid invertase activity were compared throughout the day in source leaves of 13 plant species chosen for their putative phloem-loading type (apoplastic or symplastic). Four species which represent the different phloem-loading types (tomato, barley, maize and Fuchsia ) were studied in detail. Using this information we wished to determine whether a positive correlation between foliar carbohydrates and acid invertase activity exists in leaves from different species and, furthermore, whether this relationship is determined by phloem-loading type. Acid invertase activity was relatively constant throughout the day in all species. The extent of sucrose, hexose and starch accumulation and the sucrose: starch ratio measured at a given time were species-dependent. No correlations were found between foliar soluble acid invertase activity and the hexose, sucrose or starch content of the leaves in any of the species, regardless of phloem-loading type. The species examined could be divided into three distinct groups: (1) high sucrose, low invertase; (2) low sucrose, low invertase; and (3) low sucrose, high invertase. The absence of an inverse relationship between leaf sucrose, hexose or starch contents and endogenous soluble acid invertase suggests that this enzyme is not directly involved in carbon partitioning in leaves but serves an auxiliary function.     

Antisense repression of sucrose phosphate synthase in transgenic muskmelon alters plant growth and fruit development

To unravel the roles of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.), we reduced its activity in transgenic muskmelon plants by an antisense approach. For this purpose, an 830 bp cDNA fragment of muskmelon sucrose phosphate synthase was expressed in antisense orientation behind the 35S promoter of the cauliflower mosaic virus. The phenotype of the antisense plants clearly differed from that of control plants. The transgenic plant leaves were markedly smaller, and the plant height and stem diameter were obviously shorter and thinner. Transmission electron microscope observation revealed that the membrane degradation of chloroplast happened in transgenic leaves and the numbers of grana and grana lamella in the chloroplast were significantly less, suggesting that the slow growth and weaker phenotype of transgenic plants may be due to the damage of the chloroplast ultrastructure, which in turn results in the decrease of the net photosynthetic rate. The sucrose concentration and levels of sucrose phosphate synthase decreased in transgenic mature fruit, and the fruit size was smaller than the control fruit. Together, our results suggest that sucrose phosphate synthase may play an important role in regulating the muskmelon plant growth and fruit development.