Colletotrichum falcatum infection influences the abundance of sucrose transporters and disease resistant proteins in sugarcane stalk

Sugarcane, commercially cultivated for the production of sucrose, is constantly confronted by Colletotrichum falcatum which is accountable for the catastrophic red rot disease. Membrane-bound sucrose transporters are the key controllers of short as well as long-distance transport of sucrose in plants. In the background of some recent reports suggesting the involvement of sucrose transporters and disease resistance proteins in plants’ defense responses; we have investigated the abundance of these proteins in the stalk tissues of red rot resistant (BO91), and susceptible (CoJ64) cultivars of sugarcane using nanoLCMS/MS-based approach. The results revealed the presence of eight sucrose transporters and four disease resistance proteins cumulatively in both the cultivars of sugarcane. Further, we observed that C. falcatum inoculation influenced the peptide abundance of these proteins in both the cultivars of sugarcane. Among sucrose transporters, fungal inoculation caused a significant reduction in the peptide abundance of a large number of sucrose transporter proteins in both the cultivars of sugarcane including SUT-1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. In case of disease resistance proteins, the peptide abundance of all the four disease resistance proteins (DRP-1–4) was induced by C. falcatum inoculation in red rot susceptible cultivar. Our study indicated that sucrose transporters are repressed, whereas the disease resistance proteins are induced by C. falcatum infection in both the cultivars of sugarcane. The study might be useful in unraveling the specific roles of sucrose transporters and disease resistance proteins during stress responses in plants.