Identification and expressional profiling of putative MAX1 gene in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

Sugar beet is an industrial crop cultivated mostly for sucrose production. Today, modern hybridization applications have raised the sugar content to 20%. Considering the increased demand globally, it is required to develop new yield-increasing application strategies. This requires extensive knowledge of the genetic mechanisms to control plant growth and metabolism. Investigation of phytohormones is promising to increase our knowledge of plant growth and developmental processes. Strigolactones are recently introduced plant hormones. They are responsible for shoot and root architecture, and involved in development, communication, germination, and responses to stress. Four major proteins (AtD27, MAX1, MAX3, MAX4) are responsible for the strigolactone biosynthesis. MAX1 protein is essential for the distinct production of strigolactone molecules. The studies on strigolactones have been carried out mostly using Arabidopsis thaliana. There are only few studies on agriculturally important plants. No reports are available for the investigation of strigolactone biosynthesis in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). In this manuscript, we profiled the expression of MAX1 gene in sugar beet treated with strigolactone hormones (rac-GR24, (+/-)-strigol and (+/-)-5-deoxystrigol) and a strigolactone biosynthesis inhibitor (TIS108). Our data suggest that MAX1 has a conserved biosynthetic and regulatory metabolism in sugar beet compared to previously investigated plant species.