Identification and expression analysis of members of the SWEET and SUT families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240599

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (9): 1825-1839.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240599

• Crop Science • Previous Articles Next Articles

Identification and expression analysis of members of the SWEET and SUT families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

ZHANG Jun¹(), ZHANG Bo¹, HU Bibo¹, LIU Jingliang¹, ZHANG Xiaoyu¹, LI Chunyang¹, XIONG Shengting¹, GUO Binbin¹, WANG Xiucun², MA Chao¹^,^*()

¹ College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, Henan, China
² Luoyang Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, Luoyang 471099, Henan, China

Received:2024-07-09 Online:2025-09-25 Published:2025-10-15
Contact: MA Chao

Abstract

Abstract:

SWEETs(sugars will eventually be exported transporter) and SUTs(sucrose transporters) are two sugar transporters in plants that play important roles in carbohydrate transport. In order to analyze the evolutionary characteristics, functions and responses of TaSWEET and TaSUT genes in the wheat genome and their response to exogenous sugars, this study conducted genome-wide identification of wheat TaSWEET and TaSUT, and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, promoter sequence elements, and expression characteristics. 101 TaSWEET genes and 16 TaSUT genes had been identified in wheat genome, both of which could be divided into four subfamilies. The genetic structure exhibited differences in the number of exons and introns among the TaSWEET family and TaSUT family members,ranging from 4 to 18. Conservative motif analysis displayed that the TaSWEET family and TaSUT family members had 20 motifs, the motif structures within each subfamily were similar. Chromosome distribution pattern and homology analysis indicated that TaSWEET family and TaSUT family members were evenly distributed in the three subgenomes, and the segmental and tandem repeats of the whole genome promoted the amplification of TaSWEET genes. Subcellular localization prediction proved that most of the TaSWEET and all TaSUT members were located in the plasma membrane. TaSWEET contained 4-7 transmembrane helical structures, while TaSUT contained 8-12. The analysis of promoter elements forecasted that the TaSWEET and TaSUT families were rich in growth and development, hormone response and abiotic stress cis-acting elements. Wheat gene expression pattern analysis demonstrated that most of the TaSWEET and TaSUT family members expressed at low levels in wheat leaves, while 28, 25, 33, 39 and 21 members expressed at high levels in leaf, shoot, root, spike and grain, respectively. Through qRT-PCR detection, it was found that the expression levels of TaSWEET and TaSUT family genes were all down-regulated in roots after exogenous sugar treatment, while 3 genes were up-regulated in leaves under fructose treatment, and one gene was up-regulated under all three suger treatments. The above results provide a theoretical basis for further studying the regulation of growth and development of TaSWEET and TaSUT genes in wheat and their response to exogenous sugar treatment.

Key words: wheat, TaSWEET family, TaSUT family, sugar transporter, gene expression

CLC Number:

S512

ZHANG Jun, ZHANG Bo, HU Bibo, LIU Jingliang, ZHANG Xiaoyu, LI Chunyang, XIONG Shengting, GUO Binbin, WANG Xiucun, MA Chao. Identification and expression analysis of members of the SWEET and SUT families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2025, 37(9): 1825-1839.

Figures/Tables 11

Table 1 Primers used for qRT-PCR analysis of partial TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes

登录号 Accession number	基因名称 Gene name	正向引物序列 Forward primer sequence(5'→3')	反向引物序列 Reverse primer sequence(5'→3')
TraesCS4A02G016400.1	TaSUT6	GTGGTGTGGGTGTCAAGCA	GGGCGAGGGAGACGATCT
TraesCSU02G136300.1	TaSUT16	GTCGCCGCTTCCCTCA	GACTTGCAGCCATCGCATAT
TraesCS3D02G403300.1	TaSWEET30	AAGACCAAGAGCGTGGAGTACA	GGTAGATGGCGTAGAGGATGA
TraesCS4A02G140500.1	TaSWEET32	TCTCTGCTCCGCTCTCACC	GTAGACGCTCCAGATGCCG
TraesCS6A02G218800.1	TaSWEET50	ACCGTCATCGGCGTCATAG	GTACTGCTCCACCGTCTTCTTT
TraesCS6B02G421800.1	TaSWEET62	CAAGACCAAGAGTGTGGAGTACA	CTCCTTGACCTCGCTTGC
TraesCS7A02G147300.1	TaSWEET72	AGCTGCCTGCTGTGGATG	GTGACGAGGGCGATGAGG
TraesCS1B02G283900.1	Actin	GTTCCAATCTATGAGGGATACACGC	GAACCTCCACTGAGAACAACATTACC

Fig.1 Phylogenetic relationships among members of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family in wheat

Fig.2 Gene structure and conserved protein motifs in the TaSWEET family and TaSUT family of wheat A, Phylogenetic tree of the TaSWEET and TaSUT family genes; B, Conserved motifs of TaSWEET and TaSUT family proteins; C, Gene structure of TaSWEET and TaSUT family. CDS, Coding sequence; UTR, Untranslated region.

Fig.3 Conserved motifs of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family members in wheat

Fig.4 Chromosomal distribution of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in wheat The red curve represents tandem duplication between genes. The color of the chromosome bands indicates the density of the genes. Un indicates that the chromosomal position is unknown.

Fig.5 Regional colinearity relationships of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in wheat The red line connects the chromosomal regions of the TaSWEET and TaSUT genes with homology. The bar and lines of rings 1 and 2 indicate the location of base deletions. Ring 3 is the gene density heatmap.

Table 2 Ka/Ks analysis result of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in wheat (Ka/Ks value>1)

序列1 Sequence 1	序列2 Sequence 2	非同义替换率 Ka	同义替换率 Ks	非同义替换/同义替换 Ka/Ks	平均S位点 Average S-sites	平均N位点 Average N-sites
TaSWEET46	TaSWEET85	0.333 0	0.287 9	1.156 6	217.500 0	628.500 0
TaSWEET46	TaSWEET91	0.333 1	0.287 6	1.158 1	217.666 7	628.333 3
TaSWEET39	TaSWEET85	0.335 2	0.288 8	1.160 8	217.666 7	628.333 3
TaSWEET39	TaSWEET91	0.335 7	0.287 4	1.168 2	217.833 3	628.166 7
TaSWEET42	TaSWEET91	0.347 2	0.283 5	1.224 9	218.166 7	627.833 3
TaSWEET42	TaSWEET85	0.345 8	0.280 4	1.233 4	218.000 0	628.000 0

Fig.6 Cis-acting elements in the promoters of wheat TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes Different cis-acting elements are represented by the dots of different colors.

Fig.7 Relative expression levels of wheat TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in different organs The legend color from bottom to top indicates gene expression from low to high.

Fig.8 Relative expression levels of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in response to exogenous sugar treatment in wheat roots “*” indicates significant (p<0.05) difference compared with the control (CK). The same as below.

Fig.9 Relative expression levels of TaSWEET family and TaSUT family genes in response to exogenous sugar treatment in wheat leaves

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Identification and expression analysis of members of the SWEET and SUT families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

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