GIN2 — Solanum tuberosum

Summary

PGSC0003DMG400002525, designated GIN2 and also known as StHXK1 or StHXK2, encodes a hexokinase on potato chromosome 3, a protein with glucokinase and fructokinase activities that also binds DNA and has DNA binding transcription factor activity. The protein is associated with hexose metabolism, glucose 6-phosphate metabolism, hexokinase-dependent signaling, and downregulation of photosynthesis, as well as phloem loading, actin filament capping, and hormone secretion. It localizes to multiple cellular compartments including mitochondria, chloroplast outer membrane, vacuole, and plasmodesmata. The gene has been linked to starch and sugar content, photosynthetic and transpiration rates, fruit weight, shoot branching, leaf senescence, and responses to glucose, ethylene, auxin, and cytokinin. Studies of related genes in other species connect the family to glucose signaling, leaf senescence, drought tolerance, water-use efficiency, and stomatal closure.