The SWEET family of sugar transporters in grapevine: VvSWEET4 is involved in the interaction with Botrytis cinerea

During plant development, sugar export is determinant in multiple processes such as nectar production, pollen development and long-distance sucrose transport. The plant SWEET family of sugar transporters is a recently identified protein family of sugar uniporters. In rice, SWEET transporters are the target of extracellular bacteria, which have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to modify their expression and acquire sugars to sustain their growth. Here we report the characterization of the SWEET family of sugar transporters in Vitis vinifera. We identified 17 SWEET genes in the V. vinifera 40024 genome and show that they are differentially expressed in vegetative and reproductive organs. Inoculation with the biotrophic pathogens Erysiphe necator and Plasmopara viticola did not result in significant induction of VvSWEET gene expression. However, infection with the necrotroph Botrytis cinerea triggered a strong up-regulation of VvSWEET4 expression. Further characterization of VvSWEET4 revealed that it is a glucose transporter localized in the plasma membrane that is up-regulated by inducers of reactive oxygen species and virulence factors from necrotizing pathogens. Finally, Arabidopsis knockout mutants in the orthologous AtSWEET4 were found to be less susceptible to B. cinerea. We propose that stimulation of expression of a developmentally regulated glucose uniporter by reactive oxygen species production and extensive cell death after necrotrophic fungal infection could facilitate sugar acquisition from plant cells by the pathogen.