Regulation of the aerenchyma formation and sugar accumulation mediated by the transcription factor ScRAV1 and sugar sensors

• Grant number: 22/00441-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Agreement: CNPq - INCTs
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Silveira Buckeridge
• Grantee: Bruno Viana Navarro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50884-5 - INCT 2014: National Institute of Science and Technology of Bioethanol, AP.TEM

Abstract

The aerenchyma of sugarcane roots consists of a modular, constitutive, and lysigenic mechanism, in which cells in the root cortex are degraded via programmed cell death and there are changes in the cell wall. Inherent in the process of aerenchyma formation, it is already known that the transcription factor ScRAV1 is an important regulator, which negatively controls the expression of an endopolygalacturonase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes the pectin of the middle lamellae of the cell wall. Evidences suggest that the regulation of cell wall biosynthesis and degradation processes can be controlled by the available carbon status in the cell. Homeostasis of carbon energy regulation is mediated by sugar sensors that have distinct roles in controlling cell development. Sensors such as the Target of Rapamycin (TOR), Sucrose-non-Fermenting related protein Kinase 1 (SnRK1), and Hexokinase (HXK) proteins, as well as the metabolite trehalose-6-phosphate, play central roles in sugar signaling. In this sense, the present project aims to investigate whether the process of aerenchyma formation in sugarcane roots is controlled by sugar sensors. Therefore, transformation events that constitutively overexpress the ScRAV1 transcription factor will be genotyped and phenotyped as the transformation construct. These events will be characterized regarding the contents of sugars, amino acids, and hormones and the formation of aerenchyma in the roots will be characterized. Furthermore, the sugar sensor regulation during aerenchyma formation in sugarcane roots will be investigated through molecular and biochemical analyses. An experiment that will evaluate the pattern of sugar filling in the different internodes of the stem will be evaluated to investigate the processes intrinsic to sucrose accumulation in sugarcane plants. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE OLIVEIRA, LAUANA PEREIRA; PEREIRA, JOAO PEDRO DE JESUS; NAVARRO, BRUNO VIANA; MARTINS, MARINA C. M.; RIANO-PACHON, DIEGO MAURICIO; BUCKERIDGE, MARCOS SILVEIRA. Bioinformatic insights into sugar signaling pathways in sugarcane growth. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 14, n. 1, p. 14-pg., 2024-10-22. (14/50884-5, 20/15230-5, 18/03764-5, 14/50279-4, 22/00441-6)

DE OLIVEIRA, LAUANA P.; DE OLIVEIRA, LEANDRO F.; NAVARRO, BRUNO V.; MACEDO, AMANDA F.; MARTINS, MARINA C. M.; BUCKERIDGE, MARCOS S.; FLOH, ENY I. S.. Distinct metabolic profiles of key metabolites in sugarcane leaves and culms highlight their potential roles in growth and development. THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, v. 37, n. 1, p. 15-pg., 2025-01-22. (14/50279-4, 22/00441-6, 20/15230-5, 14/50884-5, 18/03764-5, 24/12357-5)

GRANDIS, ADRIANA; FORTIRER, JANAINA S.; NAVARRO, BRUNO V.; DE OLIVEIRA, LAUANA P.; BUCKERIDGE, MARCOS S.. Biotechnologies to Improve Sugarcane Productivity in a Climate Change Scenario. BioEnergy Research, v. N/A, p. 26-pg., 2023-08-30. (14/50279-4, 22/05524-7, 14/50884-5, 22/00441-6, 19/13936-0, 20/15230-5)