CWIN-sugar transporter nexus is a key component for reproductive success

Reproductive development is critical for completion of plant life cycle and realization of crop yield potential. Reproductive organs comprise multiple distinctive or even transgenerational tissues, which are symplasmically disconnected from each other for protection and better control of nutrition and development. Cell wall invertases (CWINs) and sugar transporters are often specifically or abundantly expressed in these apoplasmic interfaces to provide carbon nutrients and sugar signals to developing pollens, endosperm and embryo. Emerging evidence shows that some of those genes were indeed targeted for selection during crop domestication. In this Opinion paper, I discuss the functional significance of the localized expression of CWINs and sugar transporters in reproductive organs followed by an analysis on how their spatial patterning may be regulated at the molecular levels and how the localized CWIN activity may be exploited for improvement of reproductive output.