Uptake of exogenous sugars and responses by rice root of young wild-type and ospk1 mutant seedlings

Abstract:

How root system responds to various environmental factors has not yet been fully elucidated. In root, the expression of OsPK1 is mainly in the maturation zone and the root-hair zone of root tip. It is unknown whether the uptake of exogenous sugars by rice seedlings is affected by downregulation of OsPK1. In this study, we used wild-type (WT) and ospk1 rice mutant plants to investigate the uptake of exogenous sugars and the responses of rice seedlings by adding sucrose to 1/2 MS medium or not. The contents of sucrose, glucose, fructose and galactose in leaf blades, sheathes and roots of rice seedlings were measured by GC-MS analysis. The result revealed that direct contact between root and exogenous sugars greatly elevates sugar levels of rice seedlings. And the root length of these seedlings is much longer than that of the seedlings grown in medium omitting exogenous sugars, suggesting that uptake of exogenous sugars by root promotes root elongation. Downregulation of OsPK1 has effects on sugar metabolism and the uptake of exogenous sugars. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR result showed that the expressions of OsPIP2;4, OsPIP2;5 and OsTIP2;1 (three aquaporin genes) in root were greatly upregulated by the direct contact between root and exogenous sugars.