The Role of Trehalose 6-Phosphate in Crop Yield and Resilience

Abstract

One sentence summary: T6P can be targeted through genetic and chemical methods for crop yield 10 improvements in different environments through the effect of T6P on carbon allocation and 11 biosynthetic pathways 12Significant increases in global food security require improving crop yields in favourable and 13 poor conditions alike. However, it is challenging to increase both the crop yield potential and yield 14 resilience simultaneously, since the mechanisms that determine productivity and stress tolerance are 15 typically inversely related. Carbon allocation and use may be amenable to improving yields in a range 16 of conditions. The interaction between trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) and SnRK1 (SNF1-related/AMPK 17 protein kinases) significantly affects the regulation of carbon allocation and utilisation in plants. 18Targeting T6P appropriately to certain cell types, tissue types, and developmental stages results in an 31 SUCROSE AND TREHALOSE: THE YIN AND YANG OF CROP IMPROVEMENT 32Plants are the only organisms that synthesise both non-reducing disaccharides, trehalose and 33 sucrose. The ubiquity of both pathways in plants has been known for less than 20 years and was a 34 major revelation for those working on carbon metabolism, as well as plant scientists in general, given 35 the range of processes affected by the trehalose pathway. Plant metabolism is highly regulated. Part 36 of this regulation is through trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) signalling that regulates metabolism in the 37 light of carbon availability and reprograms metabolism between anabolic or catabolic pathways 38 depending on the carbohydrate status of the plant. This discovery is also significant for understanding 39 the regulation of growth and development by carbon supply. Furthermore, the trehalose pathway may 40 widely impact crop improvement. Crops are not yet optimised to maximize their biosynthetic pathways 41 for yield in sinks and growth recovery that are promoted by high T6P, and for mobilisation of reserves 42 and sugar transport which can enable resilience that are promoted by low T6P. 43Both the trehalose and sucrose biosynthesis pathways draw from a pool of core metabolites, 44 from which the carbon skeletons for all cellular components are also made (Paul et al. 2008 procedures to measure the abundance of T6P and trehalose (Lunn et al. 2006; Carillo et al. 2013; 51 Delatte et al. 2009;Mata et al. 2016). The capacity to synthesise trehalose in 52 plants began to become apparent as the associated plant genes were identified (Blazquez et al. 1998; 53 Vogel et al. 1998). Subsequent publication of the Arabidopsis genome showed an abundance of both 54 trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose phosphate phosphatase (TPP) gene families with 55 11 and 10 members respectively (Leyman et al. 2001). 56It is likely that T6P is a specific signal indicating sucrose abundance (Lunn et al. 2006; Nunes 57 et al. 2013a). T6P and sucrose levels are correlated in many tissues e.g. Arabidopsis and wheat 72TPSs have yet to be resolve...

Effects of Exogenous Trehalose on the Metabolism of Sugar and Abscisic Acid in Tomato Seedlings Under Salt Stress

“…Trehalose was first isolated from ryegrass by Wiggers in the late nineteenth century and was later found in bacteria, algae, yeast, lower plants, insects, and other invertebrates [8]. The amount of trehalose present in plants is extremely low, and excessive accumulation of trehalose can affect the metabolism of normal carbohydrates in plants and even inhibit their growth [9][10][11]. Trehalose produces a marked effect primarily in the form of signaling molecules under stress conditions [12].…”

A Snapshot of the Trehalose Pathway During Seed Imbibition in Medicago truncatula Reveals Temporal- and Stress-Dependent Shifts in Gene Expression Patterns Associated With Metabolite Changes

“…On the other hand, the role of trehalose as source of energy is quite elusive. It is known that the flux through the trehalose pathway is more than a 1.000-fold lower than the sucrose pathway where uridine diphosphate glucose (UDPglucose) is released from sucrose to support main aspects of growth, including cell wall biosynthesis (Paul et al, 2018).…”

Stacked genetically modified soybean harboring herbicide resistance and insecticide rCry1Ac shows strong defense and redox homeostasis disturbance after glyphosate-based herbicide application

“…Trehalose (α-d-glucopyranosyl-1,1-α-d-glucopyranoside) works as an osmolyte, storage reserve, transport sugar, and stress protectant [50] [51]; and it is also involved in growth and development metabolism [52] with clear links to abscisic acid and auxin signaling [53]. Increased levels of trehalose have been observed in response to osmotic stress [54] as well as to dehydration stress tolerance [55] [54]. Most plants accumulate substantial starch reserves in their leaves to provide carbon and energy for maintenance and growth [56] [57].…”