Identification of the <i>SUT</i> Gene Family in Pomegranate (<i>Punica</i> <i>granatum</i> L.) and Functional Analysis of <i>PgL0145810.1</i>

oleh: Krishna Poudel, Xiang Luo, Lina Chen, Dan Jing, Xiaocong Xia, Liying Tang, Haoxian Li, Shangyin Cao

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-09-01

Deskripsi

Sucrose, an important sugar, is transported from source to sink tissues through the phloem, and plays important role in the development of important traits in plants. However, the <i>SUT</i> gene family is still not well characterized in pomegranate. In this study, we first identified the pomegranate sucrose transporter (<i>SUT)</i> gene family from the whole genome. Then, the phylogenetic relationship of <i>SUT</i> genes, gene structure and their promoters were analyzed. Additionally, their expression patterns were detected during the development of the seed. Lastly, genetic transformation and cytological observation were used to study the function of <i>PgL0145810.1</i>. A total of ten pomegranate <i>SUT</i> genes were identified from the whole genome of pomegranate ‘Tunisia’. The promoter region of all the pomegranate <i>SUT</i> genes contained myeloblastosis (MYB) elements. Four of the <i>SUT</i> genes, <i>PgL0328370.1</i>, <i>PgL0099690.1</i>, <i>PgL0145810.1</i> and <i>PgL0145770.1</i>, were differentially expressed during seed development. We further noticed that <i>PgL0145810.1</i> was expressed most prominently in the stem parts in transgenic plants compared to other tissue parts (leaves, flowers and silique). The cells in the xylem vessels were small and lignin content was lower in the transgenic plants as compared to wild <i>Arabidopsis</i> plants. In general, our result suggests that the MYB cis-elements in the promoter region might regulate <i>PgL0145810.1</i> expression to control the structure of xylem, thereby affecting seed hardness in pomegranate.