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JXB Advance Access originally published online on June 1, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany 2009 60(11):3085-3095; doi:10.1093/jxb/erp138
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© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Diversity and activity of sugar transporters in nematode-induced root syncytia

Julia Hofmann1, Paul H. Hess2, Dagmar Szakasits1, Andreas Blöchl3, Krzysztof Wieczorek1, Sabine Daxböck-Horvath1, Holger Bohlmann1, Aart J. E. van Bel2 and Florian M. W. Grundler1,*

1Institute of Plant Protection, Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Peter Jordan-Str. 82, A-1190 Vienna, Austria
2Plant Cell Biology Research Group, Institute of General Botany, Justus-Liebig-University, Senckenbergstr. 17, D-35390 Giessen, Germany
3Department of Chemical Ecology and Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: grundler{at}boku.ac.at

The plant-parasitic nematode Heterodera schachtii stimulates plant root cells to form syncytial feeding structures which synthesize all nutrients required for successful nematode development. Cellular re-arrangements and modified metabolism of the syncytia are accompanied by massive intra- and intercellular solute allocations. In this study the expression of all genes annotated as sugar transporters in the Arabidopsis Membrane Protein Library was investigated by Affymetrix gene chip analysis in young and fully developed syncytia compared with non-infected Arabidopsis thaliana roots. The expression of three highly up-regulated (STP12, MEX1, and GTP2) and three highly down-regulated genes (SFP1, STP7, and STP4) was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The most up-regulated gene (STP12) was chosen for further in-depth studies using in situ RT-PCR and a nematode development assay with a T-DNA insertion line revealing a significant reduction of male nematode development. The specific role of STP12 expression in syncytia of male juveniles compared with those of female juveniles was further shown by qRT-PCR. In order to provide evidence for sugar transporter activity across the plasma membrane of syncytia, fluorescence-labelled glucose was used and membrane potential recordings following the application of several sugars were performed. Analyses of soluble sugar pools revealed a highly specific composition in syncytia. The presented work demonstrates that sugar transporters are specifically expressed and active in syncytia, indicating a profound role in inter- and intracelluar transport processes.

Key words: Electrophysiology, gene chip, Heterodera schachtii, in situ RT-PCR, sugar transporter, syncytium

Received 19 February 2009; Revised 4 April 2009 Accepted 6 April 2009


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