Genome-Wide Discovery and Expression Profiling of the SWEET Sugar Transporter Gene Family in Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) under Developmental and Stress Conditions: Structural and Evolutionary Analysis.

The SWEET (sugar will eventually be exported transporter) family proteins are a recently identified class of sugar transporters that are essential for various physiological processes. Although the functions of the SWEET proteins have been identified in a number of species, to date, there have been no reports of the functions of the SWEET genes in woodland strawberries (Fragaria vesca). In this study, we identified 15 genes that were highly homologous to the A. thaliana AtSWEET genes and designated them as FvSWEET1 – FvSWEET15. We then conducted a structural and evolutionary analysis of these 15 FvSWEET genes. The phylogenetic analysis enabled us to categorize the predicted 15 SWEET proteins into four distinct groups. We observed slight variations in the exon‒intron structures of these genes, while the motifs and domain structures remained highly conserved. Additionally, the developmental and biological stress expression profiles of the 15 FvSWEET genes were extracted and analyzed. Finally, WGCNA coexpression network analysis was run to search for possible interacting genes of FvSWEET genes. The results showed that the FvSWEET10 genes interacted with 20 other genes, playing roles in response to bacterial and fungal infections. The outcomes of this study provide insights into the further study of FvSWEET genes and may also aid in the functional characterization of the FvSWEET genes in woodland strawberries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]