MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF CARBON PARTITIONING IN SOLANACEOUS SPECIES

Due to their importance as crop species, solanaceous plants such as to bacco, potato and tomato have been studied in great detail with respec t to carbohydrate partitioning using classical physiological methodolo gy. During the last decade, molecular tools have enabled the isolation of many genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, and the developmen t of efficient transformation technology, especially for the Solanacea e, has allowed the creation of transgenic plants, that are altered by the activity of individual genes. The physiological analysis of these transgenic plants has contributed considerably to our current understa nding of how assimilates are produced, mobilized, translocated, and al located in higher plants, This review aims to cover the current knowle dge in the area of molecular genetics of sucrose biosynthesis, transpo rt and utilization in these species,