A putative plastidic glucose translocator is expressed in heterotrophic tissues that do not contain starch, during olive (Olea europea L.) fruit ripening.

Metabolite-specific transporters are present in the inner membrane of the plastid envelope allowing transport between the plastid and other cellular compartments. A plastidic glucose translocator (pGlcT) in leaf mesophyll cells transports glucose from chloroplast stroma to the cytosol after amylolytic starch degradation at night. Here we report the cloning of a pGlcT expressed in olive fruits (Olea europea L.). Our results showed high expression of pGlcT in non-green heterotrophic fruit tissues. Expression of pGlcT in olive fruits was somewhat higher compared to leaves, and continued until the black, mature fruit stage. We cloned part of tomato pGlcT and found that it is also expressed throughout fruit development implying a role for pGlcT in heterotrophic tissues. Light and electron microscopic characterization of plastid structural changes during olive fruit ripening revealed the transition of chloroplast-like plastids into starchless, non-green plastids; in mature olive fruits only chromoplasts were present. Together, these findings suggest that olive pGlcT is abundant in chromoplasts during structural changes, and provide evidence that pGlcT may play different physiological roles in ripening fruits and possibly in other non-photosynthetic organs.