New insights on alkaline/neutral invertases in plants

LECHNER L; BATTAGLIA M; MARTIN MV; MARTÍNEZ NOËL G; SALERNO G

Foz de Iguazú

Congreso; IPMB2015; 2015

Alkaline/neutral Invertases (A/N-Invs) are sucrose hydrolyzing enzymes associated mostly with the delivery of cytosolic hexoses into respiration. Recent studies revealed new location (organelar A/N-Invs) and novel roles played by these proteins. Particularly, they were shown to regulate growth, development and responses to environmental challenges. Availability of complete plant genome sequences disclosed A/N-Inv multigene families and opened the door for systematic analysis of their metabolically important members. Here, we report the identification of 21 full-length cDNAs for the members of the wheat A/N-Inv gene family. The genes were clustered into 3 homeologous groups of 8 genes. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed two subfamilies, consistent with the cytosolic and plastidic isoforms. Then, we focused our study on the analysis of the expression of the four cytosolic A/N Inv encoding genes by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments in seedlings of two contrasting wheat cultivars [BioInta 1005, a spring (short cycle) cv. and Baguette 31, a winter (long cycle) cv.]. Differential transcript levels were shown in leaves and roots of plants submitted to stress conditions (low temperature and drought), being highest in the most tolerant cultivar. Our results support the key role of A/N-Invs in the response of plants to cope with abiotic stresses. Supported by UNMdP (EXA645), PICT 1288, and FIBA.