Sugarcane genes envolved in vacuolar sucrose storage

• Grant number: 00/08721-9
• Support Opportunities: Genome Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2000
• End date: July 31, 2002
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Metabolism and Bioenergetics
• Principal Investigator: Márcia Justino Rossini Mutton
• Grantee: Márcia Justino Rossini Mutton
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Inside the vegetal realm the sugarcane has been considered as the most expressive plants over their traits towards sugar biosynthesis and storage. From their high photosynthesis efficiency in producing the surpassing energetic sources, the sugarcane has been programmed their growth basically in two main metabolic phase. Undoubtedly dependent on the photosynthesis rate, the early steps attend to the vegetative growth building up all structure till their so called "maturation stage". Afterwards under some set of specific environmental factors are triggered at cellular level, the strategic enzymatic changes as the proper trafficking of phytohormones alongside to the plant root-shoot. It leads to the ongoing process of sucrose storage inside the cells vacuole, establishing the more functional flux of sugars predominantly from the sources to the sink and eventually to the structural maintenance and functional meristems. The objective of this project is to identify and annotate all genes involved in the biochemical metabolism from glucose and fructose synthesis to its condensation in the sucrose molecule by comparing ESTs from sugarcane cDNA libraries produced by the SUCEST project with gene sequences deposited in different international databasis, with emphasis in the acid and alkaline invertases and sucrose synthetases which plays an important role in the sucrose vacuolar storage process. We also want to identify the phytohormones involved in the stimulus that will turn on the described process. (AU)