Comparative Analysis of Sugar Metabolites and Their Transporters in Sugarcane Following Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) Infection.

Lifang Qin,Muqing Zhang,Yuan Yuan,Charles A. Powell,Wei Yao,Baoshan Chen,Sehrish Akbar

doi:10.3390/ijms222413574

Abstract

Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) is one of the major pathogens of sugarcane. SCMV infection causes dynamic changes in plant cells, including decreased photosynthetic rate, respiration, and sugar metabolism. To understand the basics of pathogenicity mechanism, we performed transcriptome and proteomics analysis in two sugarcane genotypes (Badila: susceptible to SCMV and B-48: SCMV resistant). Using Saccharum spontaneum L. genome as a reference, we identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) that participate in sugar metabolism, transport of their metabolites, and Carbohydrate Activating enZYmes (CAZymes). Sequencing data revealed 287 DEGs directly or indirectly involved in sugar metabolism, transport, and storage, while 323 DEGs are associated with CAZymes. Significant upregulation of glucose, sucrose, fructose, starch, and SWEET-related transcripts was observed in the Badila after infection of SCMV. B-48 showed resistance against SCMV with a limited number of sugar transcripts up-regulation at the post-infection stage. For CAZymes, only glycosyltransferase (GT)1 and glycosyl hydrolase (GH)17 were upregulated in B-48. Regulation of DEGs was analyzed at the proteomics level as well. Starch, fructose, glucose, GT1, and GH17 transcripts were expressed at the post-translational level. We verified our transcriptomic results with proteomics and qPCR data. Comprehensively, this study proved that Badila upregulated sugar metabolizing and transporting transcripts and proteins, which enhance virus multiplication and infectionl.

Highlights

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarium L.), belonging to the genus Saccharum, is a semiperennial grass grown in warm temperate and tropical climates [1,2]
We explored that Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) infection altered sugar metabolites, resulting in high sucrose content, glucose level, and starch molecules in the Badila genotype
Sugarcane transcriptome was compared after the infection treatment between SCMV and mock treatment plants on wild type (Badila) and resistant genotype (B-48)

Summary

Introduction

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarium L.), belonging to the genus Saccharum, is a semiperennial grass grown in warm temperate and tropical climates [1,2]. Sugarcane is a commercially important crop because of its ability to produce high sugar yield and other biomolecules. Sugarcane produces approximately 85% of the total sugar [3,4]. Brazil is the biggest producer of sugarcane, producing approximately 37% of the total world production in 2019, followed by India, China, Thailand, and Pakistan, accounting for 18.7%, 10.8%, 5.2%, and 3.3% production, respectively [5]. Increased sugar production is due to its capacity to store sucrose molecules in stem parenchyma and culm internodes [6]. Sucrose is the most common form of sugar in plants, and its metabolism is divided into three basic steps: biosynthesis, transportation, and storage [7]. Sucrose is synthesized in the chloroplast of leaf cells during the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis

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