Browsing by Author "Anjali, Anjali"

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AtSWEET11 and AtSWEET12: the twin traders of sucrose
(Elsevier B.V., 2022) Fatima, Urooj; Anjali, Anjali; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
AtSWEET11 and AtSWEET12 are central players in phloem loading and long-distance sucrose translocation. During drought stress, these transporters enhance sucrose transport from shoot to root, increasing root proliferation. Chen et al. have now unravelled novel aspects of sucrose transport regulation, occurring via AtSWEET11 and AtSWEET12 phosphorylation and oligomerisation.
The ins and outs of SWEETs in plants: current understanding of the basics and their prospects in crop improvement
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2021) Anjali, Anjali; Fatima, Urooj; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
Sugar will eventually be exported transporters (SWEETs), a newly discovered class of sugar transporters, play a significant role in sugar efflux processes across various kingdoms of life. In fact, SWEETs have a long evolutionary path from prokaryotes to higher plants. In plants, they are involved in developmental processes, including nectar secretion, pollen nutrition, and seed filling. While the role of SWEETs has been well studied in biotic stresses, particularly their manipulation by pathogens for sugar acquisition, they have also been linked to many abiotic stresses. Although the phylogenetic relationships and solved structures of SWEETs in different plants have been revealed, their regulation remains unexplored. The current review deals with all the exciting discoveries around SWEETs, including their classification and diversity, and bridges the gaps in their evolutionary story, from bacterial semiSWEETs to eukaryotic SWEETs. We also critically examine SWEETs at genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels, as evinced by recently published examples from grain, millet, and horticultural crops. In addition, we highlight the possibilities of utilizing SWEETs in applications such as bioethanol production and disease diagnostic markers. We attempt to elucidate and unify findings related to the yet unsolved puzzle of SWEET regulation in plants to improve crop production and protection for sustainable agriculture.
A method for isolation and transfection of arabidopsis protoplast for sucrose feeding assay
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2026) Anjali, Anjali; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
Protoplasts serve as a powerful system to study various plant physiological processes and to understand crucial signaling pathways within the plant system. The isolation of Arabidopsis protoplasts is a well-established technique and being utilized for wide range of assays. The method described herein includes the precise cutting of Arabidopsis leaves using extraction buffer containing cellulase and macerozyme. Further we present a polyethylene glycol [PEG]-mediated protoplast transformation method. Here, we have elucidated the methodology for isolation of protoplast for the AtSWEET-mediated sucrose uptake assay in control, and Pseudomonas syringe pv tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) treated leaves by utilizing GC/MS analysis. Our approach includes certain modifications to the previously published protoplast isolation technique, streamlining the process and providing a more accessible alternative to the highly specialized Xenopus oocyte uptake assay.
Structure and regulation of SWEET transporters in plants: An update
(Elsevier B.V., 2020) Anjali, Anjali; Fatima, Urooj; Manu, M.S.; Ramasamy, Sureshkumar; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
Sugar will eventually be exported transporters (SWEETs), a novel family of sugar transporters found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, facilitate sugar flux across the cell membrane. Although these transporters were first discovered in plants, their homologs have been reported in different organisms. SWEETs have critical roles in various developmental processes, including phloem loading, nectar secretion, and pathogen nutrition. The structure of bacterial homologs, called SemiSWEETs, has been well studied thus far. Here, we provide an overview of SWEET protein structure and dynamic function by analyzing the solved crystal structures and predicted models that are available for a few SWEETs in a monocot plant (rice) and dicot plant (Arabidopsis thaliana). Despite the advancement in structure-related studies, the regulation of SWEETs remains unknown. In light of reported regulatory mechanisms of a few other sugar transporters, we propose the regulation of SWEETs at the post-translational level. We then enumerate the potential post-translational modification sites in SWEETs using computational tools. Overall, in this review, we critically analyze SWEET protein structure in plants to predict the post-translational regulation of SWEETs. Such findings have a direct bearing on plant nutrition and defense and targeting the regulation at these levels will be important in crop improvement.