It
is difficult to overstate the importance of sugars
in plant growth and development. Basic sugars
such as sucrose, glucose and fructose function
as essential substrates in carbon and energy metabolism.
Additionally, sugars provide carbon skeletons
used to synthesise amino acids, fatty acids, storage
carbohydrates such as starch and architectural
carbohydrates such as cellulose. Unlike animals,
plants produce their own sugars via photosynthesis.
Therefore, plants must balance their varied demands
for sugar allocation against their ability to
make photosynthate. It is imperative that plants
have a system to sense sugar availability, so
as to appropriately regulate resource allocation.
While there is growing evidence for the mechanisms
underpinning sugar sensing in plants, it is not
well understood how sugar signals are integrated
into pathways that affect carbon allocation. Given
that sugar-mediated changes in gene expression
have been documented, it seems likely that these
sugar signals will be integrated into gene regulatory
networks via transcription factors.
The Campbell lab is very actively engaged in
the detailed examination of a MYB transcription
factor that appears to function at the interface
between sugar perception and resource allocation.
Importantly, their work has shown that the signalling
pathway involving the MYB is likely to be different
from previously characterised sugar-signalling
pathways, and is likely to uncover new factors
involved in sugar signalling. The Campbell lab
has assembled a detailed perspective on this new
pathway using a powerful approach that combines
transgenic and mutant analysis approaches, together
with promoter::reporter fusion analysis of gene
expression and transcript profiling of transgenic
and mutant plants using complete arabidopsis genome
microarrays.
Personnel:
Dr.
Christian Dubos
Publications
Poole M, Dubos
C, Patzlaff A,
Surman C, Evans
H, Dilton-Hill
F, Burrill C,
Smith R, Ferber
E, Newman LJ,
Juda L, Campbell
MM. A genetic switch at the interface of sugar
perception and sugar response. (under review)
(BBSRC funded)
Rogers L, Dubos
C, Poole M,
Willment J, Mansfield
S, Campbell MM. Sugar perception is implicated
in the transcriptional control of lignin biosynthesis.
(under review) (BBSRC funded) |
