title: Expression of Arabidopsis sugar transport protein STP13 differentially affects glucose transport activity and basal resistance to Botrytis cinerea.
abstract: Botrytis cinerea is the causing agent of the grey mold disease in more than 200 crop species. While signaling pathways leading to the basal resistance against this fungus are well described, the role of the import of sugars into host cells remains to be investigated. In Arabidopsis thaliana, apoplastic hexose retrieval is mediated by the activity of sugar transport proteins (STPs). Expression analysis of the 14 STP genes revealed that only STP13 was induced in leaves challenged with B. cinerea. STP13-modified plants were produced and assayed for their resistance to B. cinerea and glucose transport activity. We report that STP13-deficient plants exhibited an enhanced susceptibility and a reduced rate of glucose uptake. Conversely, plants with a high constitutive level of STP13 protein displayed an improved capacity to absorb glucose and an enhanced resistance phenotype. The correlation between STP13 transcripts, protein accumulation, glucose uptake rate and resistance level indicates that STP13 contributes to the basal resistance to B. cinerea by limiting symptom development and points out the importance of the host intracellular sugar uptake in this process. We postulate that STP13 would participate in the active resorption of hexoses to support the increased energy demand to trigger plant defense reactions and to deprive the fungus by changing sugar fluxes toward host cells.
authors.affiliation: UMR CNRS 7267 EBI Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Equipe "Physiologie Moléculaire du Transport des Sucres chez les végétaux", Université de Poitiers, Batiment Botanique B31, 3 rue Jacques Fort, TSA 51106, 86073, Poitiers Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lemonnier
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Veillet
authors.forename: Jérémy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verbeke
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lemoine
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coutos-Thévenot
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: La Camera
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D020171:Botrytis / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D060467:Disease Resistance; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D027981:Symporters / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C510622:STP13 protein, Arabidopsis; D027981:Symporters; D005947:Glucose