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Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize
Published on: January 14, 2016
A maize vacuolar invertase, IVR2, is induced by water stress. Organ/tissue specificity and diurnal modulation of
1Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Unité Mixte de Recherche 8618, Bât 630, Université de Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay cedex, France.
Abstract:
The expression of invertases was analyzed in vegetative organs of well-watered and water-stressed maize (Zea mays) plants. Early changes in sucrose metabolism and in acid soluble invertase expression were observed in vegetative sink and source organs under mild water stress. The organ-specific induction of acid invertase activity was correlated with an increase in the Ivr2 gene transcripts and in the vacuolar invertase proteins. In addition diurnal changes in activity and Ivr2 transcripts for vacuolar invertase were noted in shoots. Hexoses (glucose and fructose) accumulated in all organs examined from water-stressed plants. In situ localization studies showed that glucose accumulation, vacuolar invertase activity, invertase protein, and the Ivr2 transcripts colocalized specifically in bundle sheath and vascular tissue cells of mature stressed leaf; in primary roots the stress-induced increase of Ivr2 transcripts was detected only in root tips. Based on these results different regulatory roles are proposed in sink and source organs for the stress induced Ivr2 vacuolar invertase.
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