Browsing by Author "Sutar, Rashmi Ranjan"

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    Co-overexpression of SWEET sucrose transporters modulates sucrose synthesis and defence responses to enhance immunity against bacterial blight in rice
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2024) Singh, Jitender; James, Donald; Das, Shubhashis; Patel, Manish Kumar; Sutar, Rashmi Ranjan; Achary, V. Mohan Murali; Goel, Naveen; Gupta, Kapuganti Jagadis; Reddy, Malireddy K.; Jha, Gopaljee; Sonti, Ramesh V.; Foyer, Christine H.; Thakur, Jitendra K.; Tripathy, Baishnab C.
    Enhancing carbohydrate export from source to sink tissues is considered to be a realistic approach for improving photosynthetic efficiency and crop yield. The rice sucrose transporters OsSUT1, OsSWEET11a and OsSWEET14 contribute to sucrose phloem loading and seed filling. Crucially, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) infection in rice enhances the expression of OsSWEET11a and OsSWEET14 genes, and causes leaf blight. Here we show that co‐overexpression of OsSUT1, OsSWEET11a and OsSWEET14 in rice reduced sucrose synthesis and transport leading to lower growth and yield but reduced susceptibility to Xoo relative to controls. The immunity‐related hypersensitive response (HR) was enhanced in the transformed lines as indicated by the increased expression of defence genes, higher salicylic acid content and presence of HR lesions on the leaves. The results suggest that the increased expression of OsSWEET11a and OsSWEET14 in rice is perceived as a pathogen (Xoo) attack that triggers HR and results in constitutive activation of plant defences that are related to the signalling pathways of pathogen starvation. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for the trade‐off between plant growth and immunity because decreased susceptibility against Xoo compromised plant growth and yield.
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    Genome wide investigation and transcriptional profiling of SWEET genes in two contrasting cultivars of foxtail millet under abiotic stresses
    (Elsevier B.V., 2025) Singh, Jitender; Singh, Kajol BM.; Sutar, Rashmi Ranjan; Kumar, Angad; Prasad, Manoj; Thakur, Jitendra K.
    The SWEET (Sugars will eventually be exported transporter) gene family is an important class of sugar transporters that regulates diverse aspects of plant physiology such as apoplastic phloem loading, plant-pathogen interactions and plant responses to abiotic stresses. While majority of the studies on SWEET family in plants have been performed in C3 species, there are limited reports on C4 plants. In this study we conducted genome wide investigation of the SWEET gene family in foxtail millet, a naturally stress tolerant C4 crop. In-silico analysis identified 24 SWEET genes in foxtail millet genome that were classified into 4 distinct clades. Domain analysis revealed the presence of conserved MtN3_slv/PQ-loop domains in all identified SWEET proteins. Interestingly, many SWEET proteins also harboured the prokaryotic SemiSWEET/PQ-loop domain suggesting an evolutionary link to their prokaryotic Semi-SWEET ancestors. In-silico analysis predicted the presence of abscisic acid and drought responsive cis-elements in the promoter region of SWEET genes. Transcriptional analysis under control, drought, and salinity stress revealed differential expression patterns of SWEET genes in stress resistant and stress susceptible foxtail millet cultivars. Moreover, the differential expression of SWEET genes altered the soluble sugar content in leaves and roots under stress conditions suggesting altered carbon re-allocation between source and sink tissues. This study significantly advances our understanding of the SWEET gene family in C4 plants, particularly in foxtail millet, and provides insights into its role in stress tolerance mechanisms and carbohydrate re-allocation under stress conditions.