Cloning, expression, and localization analysis of the sucrose transporter gene JcSUT4 in the biofuel plant Jatropha curcas

ABSTRACT

Sucrose transporters (SUTs) play an important role in regulating fruit growth and development in planta. The fruit of Jatropha curcas, an important tropical tree used as biofuel material, ripens rapidly after flowering. Here, a SUT gene JcSUT4 from J. curcas was cloned and analyzed. JcSUT4, encoding a protein of 500 amino acid residues, was a Type III SUT homolog by a phylogenetic analysis. A transient expression assay in protoplasts showed that JcSUT4 was mainly localized to the plasma membrane. Complementation of yeast sucrose uptake-deficient mutant strains revealed that JcSUT4 was capable of transporting sucrose. JcSUT4 was highly expressed in mature source leaves, as well as in fruits at 30 days after full bloom (DAFB), which was in accordance with the stages of fruit swelling and ripening. This work shows that JcSUT4 may participate in the fruit growth and development of J. curcas, particularly be involved in sucrose storage in fruit. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning of SUTs in Jatropha.

KEYWORDS:

• Jatropha curcas
• sucrose transporter
• cloning
• expression
• localization

Acknowledgments

The yeast strain was provided by Professor Anke Reinders from the University of Minnesota. The 1030 vector was kindly provided by Vincent L. Chiang of North Carolina State University. .

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 30771759, 31170636 and 31470681), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFD0600104), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (Grant No. 2016A030311032), National Science and Technology Program of Guangdong, China (Grant No. 2017B020201008), Guangzhou Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 201607020024) and Foundation of Young Creative Talents in Higher Education of Guangdong Province (2017KQNCX017).