Pyrophosphate:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase is involved in the mobilization of sugar reserves in the taproots of cold- and drought-stressed carrot plants

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to further investigate the regulatory interplay between pyrophosphate:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase (PFP) and its positive effector, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2), in the storage organs of cold- and drought-stressed plants. Since there is no detectable cytoplasmic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cytFBPase) activity in the taproots of carrot plants, PFP is the only enzyme that can replace its function when stored starch is converted to transportable sucrose. The working hypothesis was that PFP is likely to be involved in the mobilisation of energy reserves and might have a special role in storage organs such as carrot taproots upon stress. Both cold and drought stress resulted in a marked increase in the endogenous Fru-2,6-P2levels. It is suggested that the significant changes in photosynthate allocation are the direct results of the stimulation of PFP activity by elevated Fru-2,6-P2levels. PFP stimulated by Fru-2,6-P2operated in the gluconeogenic direction in the taproots of stressed carrot plants, whereas the glycolytic direction was dominant in the non-stressed controls. This suggests that the metabolic status determining the net activity of PFP depends on the physiological stress situation, making PFP an important sensor of environmental changes. The experimental data indicated that PFP is involved in the mobilisation of energy reserves during unfavourable environmental changes by promoting the re-synthesis of transportable sucrose in taproots.