ABSTRACT
Grain filling in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) mainly depends on actual photosynthesis, being the contribution of stored reserves in stems (sucrose, hexoses, and starch) rather low. Drought periods during grain filling often reduce yield. Increasing the capacity of stem to store reserves could help to increase grain filling and yield stability in dry years. Fructans improve water uptake in soils at low water potential, and allow the storage of large amount of assimilates per unit tissue volume that can be readily remobilized to grains. Sunflower is a close relative to Jerusalem artichoke (H. tuberosus L.), which accumulates large amounts of fructan (inulin) in tubers and true stems. The reason why sunflower does not accumulate fructans is obscure. Through a bioinformatics analysis of a sunflower transcriptome database, we found sequences that are homologous to dicotyledon and monocotyledon fructan synthesis genes. A HPLC analysis of stem sugar composition revealed the presence of low amounts of 1-kestose, while a drastic enhancement of endogenous sucrose levels by capitulum removal did not promote 1-kestose accumulation. This suggests that the regulation of fructan synthesis in this species may differ from the currently best known model, mainly derived from research on Poaceae, where sucrose acts as both a signaling molecule and substrate, in the induction of fructan synthesis. Thus, sunflower might potentially constitute a fructan-bearing species, which could result in an improvement of its performance as a grain crop. However, a large effort is needed to elucidate how this up to now unsuspected potential could be effectively expressed.
ABSTRACT
Chrysolaena obovata (Less.) Dematt., previously named Vernonia herbacea, is an Asteraceae native to the Cerrado which accumulates about 80% of the rhizophore dry mass as inulin-type fructans. Considering its high inulin production and the wide application of fructans, a protocol for C. obovata in vitro culture was recently established. Carbohydrates are essential for in vitro growth and development of plants and can also act as signaling molecules involved in cellular adjustments and metabolic regulation. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of different sources of carbohydrate on fructan metabolism in plants grown in vitro. For this purpose, C. obovata plants cultivated in vitro were submitted to carbon deprivation and transferred to MS medium supplemented with sucrose, glucose or fructose. Following, their fructan composition and activity and expression of genes encoding enzymes for fructan synthesis (1-SST and 1-FFT) and degradation (1-FEH) were evaluated. For qRT-PCR analysis partial cDNA sequences corresponding to two different C. obovata genes, 1-SST and 1-FFT, were isolated. As expected, C. obovata sequences showed highest sequence identity to other Asteraceae 1-SST and 1-FFT, than to Poaceae related proteins. A carbon deficit treatment stimulated the transcription of the gene 1-FEH and inhibited 1-SST and 1-FFT and carbohydrate supplementation promoted reversal of the expression profile of these genes. With the exception of 1-FFT, a positive correlation between enzyme activity and gene expression was observed. The overall results indicate that sucrose, fructose and glucose act similarly on fructan metabolism and that 1-FEH and 1-SST are transcriptionally regulated by sugar in this species. Cultivation of plants in increasing sucrose concentrations stimulated synthesis and inhibited fructan mobilization, and induced a distinct pattern of enzyme activity for 1-SST and 1-FFT, indicating the existence of a mechanism for differential regulation between them.