Expression of a tomato sugar transporter is increased in leaves of mycorrhizal or Phytophthora parasitica-infected plants

A full-length cDNA clone (LeST3), encoding a putative tomato sugar transporter, was isolated from mycorrhizal roots by using a PCR-based approach. Based on sequence similarity, conserved motifs and predicted membrane topology, LeST3 was classified as a putative monosaccharide transporter of the sugar transporter subgroup of the major facilitator superfamily. Southern blot analysis showed that LeST3 represents a single-copy gene in tomato. To investigate its function, LeST3 was expressed in a hexose transport-deficient mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although LeST3 was correctly transcribed in yeast, it did not restore growth on hexoses of the S. cerevisiae mutant. LeST3 gene expression was increased in the leaves of plants colonised by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi Glomus mosseae or Glomus intraradices and in those of plants infected with the root pathogen Phytophthora parasitica. These data suggest that LeST3 plays a role in the transport of sugars into the sink tissues and responds to the increased demand for carbohydrates exerted by two AM fungi and by a root pathogen to cope with the increased metabolic activity of the colonised/infected tissues or to supply carbohydrates to the AM fungus.