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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

In vitro sugar uptake by grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) juice-sac cells

Moshe Huberman A , Uri Zehavi B , Wilfred D. Stein C , Ed Etxeberria D and Raphael Goren A E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Robert H Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Kennedy–Leigh Centre for Horticultural Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

B Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

C Biological Chemistry Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 1255 Jerusalem 91904, Israel.

D Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 700 Experiment Station Road, Lake Alfred, FL 33850, USA.

E Corresponding author. Email: rgoren@agri.huji.ac.il

Functional Plant Biology 32(4) 357-366 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04125
Submitted: 13 July 2004  Accepted: 10 March 2005   Published: 26 April 2005

Abstract

To further our understanding of the mechanisms of sugar uptake and accumulation into grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf. cv. Marsh seedless), the patterns of uptake and utilisation of sucrose, glucose and fructose by Citrus juice cells was investigated. Analyses were conducted on sliced juice sacs that were incubated in radioactive [14C]-sugar solutions with unlabelled sugars, in the presence or absence of metabolic inhibitors. Both hexoses demonstrated an initial uptake peak in December and a second uptake peak in February–March. From March through April the rates of sucrose uptake increased to levels comparable to those of glucose and fructose. Sucrose and its moieties fructose and glucose entered the juice cells of Citrus juice fruit by an insaturable, and mostly by an independent, process. However, NaN3 and carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) produced slight inhibition of these processes. Cells took up hexoses at a greater rate than sucrose, with accumulation reaching a plateau by 4–8 h, and then continuing unabated, in the case of glucose, for 42 h. Uptake of all three sugars increased linearly in the range of sugar concentrations tested, which extended from 0.01 to 320 mm, denoting an insaturable system for sugar uptake. 14CO2 evolution was relatively low in all the experiments, the lowest evolution being recorded when the uptake of [14C]-sucrose was studied, while the highest 14CO2 evolution was recorded when the uptake of [14C]-glucose was studied. The data demonstrate a preferential utilisation of glucose over fructose and sucrose. In all the experiments, the two metabolic inhibitors significantly inhibited the decarboxylation of the three sugars.

Keywords: citric acid, Citrus, fruit quality, fruit respiration, sugar accumulation, sugar transport.


Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Professor S Wolf and Dr A Sadka for critical reading of the manuscript, and Dr P Smirnoff for her suggestions and to Dr H Fut for her statistical assistance. This research was supported by the Israel–USA Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD Project No. IS-2248–93).


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