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Over‐expression of STP13 , a hexose transporter, improves plant growth and nitrogen use in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings
Author(s) -
SCHOFIELD R. A.,
BI Y.M.,
KANT S.,
ROTHSTEIN S. J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2008.01919.x
Subject(s) - arabidopsis thaliana , arabidopsis , hexose , transgene , sucrose , genetically modified crops , biology , glucose transporter , biochemistry , gene expression , botany , gene , mutant , enzyme , insulin , endocrinology
In Arabidopsis thaliana , the regulation of hexose levels by the large monosaccharide transporter (MST) gene family influences many aspects of plant growth. The cloning and transgenic expression of one family member (STP13) enabled the manipulation of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism in Arabidopsis . Transgenic seedlings constitutively over‐expressing STP13 (STP13OX) had increased rates of glucose uptake, higher endogenous sucrose levels and accumulated more total C and biomass per plant when grown on soil‐less media supplemented with 55 m m glucose and sufficient N (9 m m nitrate). Furthermore, STP13OX seedlings acquired 90% more total N than the Col‐0 seedlings, and had higher levels of expression of the nitrate transporter NRT2.2 . In addition, STP13OX seedlings were larger and had higher biomass than Col‐0 seedlings when grown under a limiting N condition (3 m m nitrate). Transgene analysis of STP13 reveals that its gene product is localized to the plasma membrane (PM) in tobacco BY‐2 suspension cells, that it encodes a functional MST in planta , and that the STP13 promoter directs GUS expression to the vasculature and to leaf mesophyll cells. This work highlights the link between C and N metabolism, demonstrating that a plant's N use may be improved by increasing the availability of C.