Potato (Solanum tuberosum) invertase-encoding cDNAs and their differential expression

Area of Science:

• Plant molecular biology
• Enzymology
• Gene expression analysis

Background:

• Invertase (Inv) enzymes play crucial roles in plant carbohydrate metabolism.
• Two distinct subfamilies of Inv enzymes exist in plants: apoplastic and vacuolar.
• Understanding the differential expression of Inv genes is key to elucidating their specific functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize a full-length cDNA clone encoding a potato invertase (Inv).
• To differentiate and analyze the expression patterns of two distinct potato apoplastic Inv genes.
• To investigate the tissue-specific and developmental regulation of these potato Inv genes.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of a full-length cDNA clone for potato invertase.
• Sequence analysis to determine homology with known Inv genes.
• Development of a single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) assay.
• Application of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for gene expression analysis.

Main Results:

• A full-length cDNA clone for potato invertase was isolated, showing 77% nucleotide identity to a previously identified putative extracellular Inv.
• The two identified potato apoplastic Inv genes were confirmed to be distinct from vacuolar enzyme subfamilies based on sequence similarity.
• The developed RT-PCR-SSCP assay successfully differentiated the expression of the two apoplastic Inv genes.

Conclusions:

• Two distinct potato apoplastic invertase genes have been identified and characterized.
• The expression of these two Inv genes is regulated in a tissue-specific and developmentally dependent manner.
• This study provides insights into the complex regulation of invertase gene expression in potato.