Identification and expression profile analysis of the sucrose phosphate synthase gene family in Litchi chinensis Sonn

Dan Wang; Jietang Zhao; Bing Hu; Jiaqi Li; Yaqi Qin; Linhuan Chen; Yonghua Qin; Guibing Hu

doi:10.7717/peerj.4379

Identification and expression profile analysis of the sucrose phosphate synthase gene family in Litchi chinensis Sonn

PeerJ. 2018 Feb 15:6:e4379. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4379. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Dan Wang^{1

2}, Jietang Zhao^{1

2}, Bing Hu^{1

2}, Jiaqi Li^{1

2}, Yaqi Qin^{1

2}, Linhuan Chen^{1

2}, Yonghua Qin^{1

2}, Guibing Hu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources/Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops-South China, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong Litchi Engineering Research Center, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS, EC 2.4.1.14) is a key enzyme that regulates sucrose biosynthesis in plants. SPS is encoded by different gene families which display differential expression patterns and functional divergence. Genome-wide identification and expression analyses of SPS gene families have been performed in Arabidopsis, rice, and sugarcane, but a comprehensive analysis of the SPS gene family in Litchi chinensis Sonn. has not yet been reported. In the current study, four SPS gene (LcSPS1, LcSPS2, LcSPS3, and LcSPS4) were isolated from litchi. The genomic organization analysis indicated the four litchi SPS genes have very similar exon-intron structures. Phylogenetic tree showed LcSPS1-4 were grouped into different SPS families (LcSPS1 and LcSPS2 in A family, LcSPS3 in B family, and LcSPS4 in C family). LcSPS1 and LcSPS4 were strongly expressed in the flowers, while LcSPS3 most expressed in mature leaves. RT-qPCR results showed that LcSPS genes expressed differentially during aril development between cultivars with different hexose/sucrose ratios. A higher level of expression of LcSPS genes was detected in Wuheli, which accumulates higher sucrose in the aril at mature. The tissue- and developmental stage-specific expression of LcSPS1-4 genes uncovered in this study increase our understanding of the important roles played by these genes in litchi fruits.

Keywords: Aril; Gene expression; Litchi chinensis Sonn.; Sucrose phosphate synthase; Sugar accumulation.

Grants and funding

The paper was supported by the China Litchi and Longan Industry Technology Research System (Project no. CARS-32-05), the National Natural Science Fund of China (project No. 31501734), the YangFan Innovative & Entrepreneurial Research Team Project (No. 2014YT02H013), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2015B020202010), and the Litchi Breeding, Propagation and Extension Union Construction Project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.