Up-regulation of sucrose synthase and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase impacts plant growth and metabolism.

The effects of the overexpression of sucrose synthase (SuSy) and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) on plant growth and metabolism were evaluated in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi). T(1) transgenic plants expressing either gene under the control of a tandem repeat cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (2x35S) or a xylem-localized 4CL promoter (4-coumarate:CoA ligase; 4CL) were generated, and reciprocally crossed to generate plants expressing both genes. Transcript levels, enzyme activity, growth parameters, fibre properties and carbohydrate content of stem tissue were quantified. The expression profiles of both genes confirmed the expression pattern of the promoters: 2x35S expressed more strongly in leaves, while 4CL expression was highest in stem tissue. In-depth plant characterization revealed that the single-transgene lines showed significant increases in the height growth compared with corresponding control lines. The double-transgene plants demonstrated an additive effect, proving to be even taller than the single-transgene parents. Several of these lines had associated increases in soluble sugar content. Although partitioning of storage carbohydrates into starch or cellulose was not observed, the increased height growth and increases in soluble carbohydrates suggest a role for SuSy as a marker in sink strength and lend credit to the function of UGPase in a similar role. The up-regulation of these two genes, although not increasing the percentage cellulose content, was effective in increasing the total biomass, and thus the overall cellulose yield, from a given plant.

The potential of metabolite profiling as a selection tool for genotype discrimination in Populus.

Differences between wild-type Populus tremulaxalba and two transgenic lines with modified lignin monomer composition, were interrogated using metabolic profiling. Analysis of metabolite abundance data by GC-MS, coupled with principal components analysis (PCA), successfully differentiated between lines that had distinct phenotypes, whether samples were taken from the cambial zone or non-lignifying suspension tissue cultures. Interestingly, the GC-MS analysis detected relatively few phenolic metabolites in cambial extracts, although a single metabolite associated with the differentiation between lines was directly related to the phenylpropanoid pathway or other down-stream aspects of lignin biosynthesis. In fact, carbohydrates, which have only an indirect relationship with the modified lignin monomer composition, featured strongly in the line-differentiating aspects of the statistical analysis. Traditional HPLC analysis was employed to verify the GC-MS data. These findings demonstrate that metabolic traits can be dissected reliably and accurately by metabolomic analyses, enabling the discrimination of individual genotypes of the same tree species that exhibit marked differences in industrially relevant wood traits. Furthermore, this validates the potential of using metabolite profiling techniques for marker generation in the context of plant/tree breeding for industrial applications.