The AtSUC2 Promoter: A Powerful Tool to Study Phloem Physiology and Development

The sucrose carrier AtSUC2 of Arabidopsis thaliana is localized in the phloem, where it catalyzes the uptake of sucrose from the apoplast into companion cells. Imported sucrose moves passively via plasmodesmata from the companion cells into the neighboring sieve elements that distribute this disaccharide to the different sink organs. Phloem loading of sucrose by the AtSUC2 protein is an essential process, and mutants lacking this protein stay tiny, develop no or only few flowers, and have a strongly reduced root system. The promoter of the AtSUC2 gene is active exclusively in companion cells of the phloem. Moreover, it drives very strong expression not only in Arabidopsis, but also in all plant species tested so far, including monocot species. Due to these features, the AtSUC2 promoter has become an important tool in diverse areas of plant research during the last two decades. It was used to study phloem development and function including phloem loading and unloading. Furthermore, it was helpful in analyzing the pathways of posttranscriptional silencing by RNA interference, the regulation of flowering, mechanisms of nutrient withdrawal by phloem-feeding pathogens, and other physiological functions that are related to long distance transport. The present paper gives an overview of different approaches in plant research that utilized the strong and companion cell-specific expression of own or foreign genes driven by the AtSUC2 promoter.