Excision of selectable marker gene from transgenic tobacco using the GM-gene-deletor system regulated by a heat-inducible promoter

To excise a selectable marker gene from transgenic plants, a new binary expression vector based on the 'genetically modified (GM)-gene-deletor' system was constructed. In this vector, the gene coding for FLP site-specific recombinase under the control of a heat shock-inducible promoter HSP18.2 from Arabidopsis thaliana and isopentenyltransferase gene (ipt), as a selectable marker gene under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter, were flanked by two loxP/FRT fusion sequences as recombination sites in direct orientation. Histochemical staining for GUS activity showed that, upon induction by heat shock, all exogenous DNA, including the selectable marker gene ipt, beta-glucuronidase (gusA) gene and the FLP recombinase gene, between two loxP/FRT sites was eliminated efficiently from primary transgenic tobacco plants. Molecular analysis further confirmed that excision of the marker gene (ipt) was heritable and stable. Our approach provides a reliable strategy for auto-excising a selectable marker gene from calli, shoots or other tissues of transgenic plants after transformation and producing marker-free transgenic plants.     

A recombinase-mediated transcriptional induction system in transgenic plants

We constructed and tested a Cre-loxP recombination-mediated vector system termed pCrox for use in transgenic plants. In this system, treatment of Arabidopsis under inducing conditions mediates an excision event that removes an intervening piece of DNA between a promoter and the gene to be expressed. The system developed here uses a heat-shock-inducible Cre to excise a DNA fragment flanked by lox sites, thereby generating a constitutive GUS reporter gene under control of the CaMV 35S promoter. Heat-shock-mediated excision of several, independent lines resulted in varying degrees of recombination-mediated GUS activation. Induction was shown to be possible at essentially any stage of plant growth. This single vector system circumvents the need for genetic crosses required by other, dual recombinase vector systems. The pCrox system may prove particularly useful in instances where transgene over-expression, or under-expression by antisense, would otherwise affect embryo, seed or seedling viability.     

A transformation vector for the production of marker-free transgenic plants containing a single copy transgene at high frequency

We represent here the GST-MAT vector system. The R recombinase gene of the site-specific recombination system R/RS from Zygosaccharomyces rouxii was fused to the chemical inducible promoter of the glutathione-S-transferase (GST-II-27) gene from Zea mays. Upon excision, the isopentenyltransferase (ipt) gene that is used as a selectable marker gene is removed. When the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV 35S) was used to express R recombinase, 67% of the marker-free transgenic plants had more than three transgene copies. Because the CaMV 35S promoter transiently and efficiently excised the ipt gene before callus and adventitious bud formation, the frequency of emergence of the ipt-shooty explants with a single T-DNA copy might be reduced. In this study we show that the GST-MAT vector efficiently produced transgenic ipt-shooty explants from 37 (88%) out of 42 differentiated adventitious buds and marker-free transgenic plants containing the GUS gene from five (14%) out of 37 ipt-shooty lines. Furthermore, the GST-MAT vector also induced two marker-free transgenic plants without the production of ipt-shooty intermediates. Southern blot analysis showed that six (86%) out of seven marker-free transgenic plants had a single GUS gene. This result suggests that the GST-MAT vector is useful to generate high frequency, marker-free transgenic plants containing a single transgene.     

用绿色荧光蛋白监测转基因植物中选择标记基因的消除

绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)可直接进行活体观察,它的这个优点可被用于监测转基因植物中选择标记基因的消除。为此,构建了植物表达载体pGNG,将绿色荧光蛋白基因(gfp)和卡那霉素抗性基因表达盒(NosP-nptll-NosT)一起克隆在两个同向的lox位点间,在第一个lox位点上游置有CaMV 35S启动子以驱动GFP表达,第二个lox位点下游置有不含启动子的大肠杆菌β-葡萄糖醛酸酶(GUS)基因。首先在含卡那霉素(Kan)的培养基上筛选出转pGNG的烟草,借助绿色荧光可容易地检出表达GFP的转化体。然后用另一转化载体pCambia1300Cre二次转化表达GFP的转基因植物,利用另一选择标记基因潮霉素抗性基因(hpt)进行筛选,在获得的再生植株中,Cre重组酶的表达消除了转化体中两lox位点间的gfp和nptll。实验结果表明可借助GFP荧光的消失,快速选出nptII被消除的二次转化体,同时GUS(作为目的蛋白) 在CaMV 35S启动子驱动下获得表达。最后利用后代的分离将hpt和cre除去。     

选择标记可去除的植物高效表达载体的构建

在常用的植物组成型表达载体pBI121的选择标记基因NPTII两侧插入同向的lox位点并用多克隆位点(MCS)取代了GUS基因序列,构建了NPTII基因可被去除的和可插入目的基因的通用植物表达载体pBI121-lox-MCS。替换pBI121-lox-MCS中驱动目的基因表达的35S启动子,可构建成一系列具有其他表达特性的植物表达载体,如本文描述的韧皮部特异表达载体pBdENP-lox-MCS。为方便地筛选去除选择标记基因的转基因植物,还构建了绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)表达框与NPTII表达框连锁的pBI121-gfp-lox-MCS载体。上述植物表达载体可广泛应用于培育选择标记可去除的转基因植物。     

Removal of the Selectable Marker Gene from Transgenic Tobacco Plants by Expression of Cre Recombinase from a Tobacco Mosaic Virus Vector through Agroinfection

Selection markers are often indispensable during the process of plant transformation, but dispensable once transgenic plants have been established. The Cre/lox site-specific recombination system has been employed to eliminate selectable marker genes from transgenic plants. Here we describe the use of a movement function-improved Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) vector, m30B, to express Cre recombinase for elimination of the selectable marker gene nptII from transgenic tobacco plants. The transgenic tobacco plants were produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with a specially designed binary vector pGNG which contained in its T-DNA region a sequence complex of 35S promoter-lox-the gfp coding sequence-rbcS terminator-Nos promoter-nptII-Nos terminator-lox-the gus coding region-Nos terminator. The expression of the recombinant viral vector m30B:Cre in plant cells was achieved by placing the viral vector under the control of the 35S promoter and through agroinoculation. After co-cultivating the pGNG-leaf discs with agro35S-m30B:Cre followed by shoot regeneration without any selection, plants devoid of the lox-flanked sequences including nptII were obtained with an efficiency of about 34% as revealed by histochemical GUS assay of the regenerants. Three of 11 GUS expressing regenerants, derived from two independent transgenic lines containing single copy of the pGNG T-DNA, proved to be free of the lox-flanked sequences by Southern blot analysis. Excision of the lox-flanked sequences in the three plants could be attributed to transient expression of Cre from the viral vector at the early stage of co-cultivation, since the cre sequence could not be detected in the viral RNA molecules accumulated in the plants, nor in their genomic DNA. The parental marker-free genotype was inherited in their selfed progeny, and all of the progeny were virus-free, apparently because TMV is not seed-transmissible. Therefore, expression of Cre from a TMV-based vector could be used to eliminate selectable marker genes from transgenic tobacco plants without sexual crossing and segregation, and this strategy could be extended to other TMV-infected plant species and applicable to other compatible virus–host plant systems.     

转基因植物中外源非目的基因片段的生物安全研究进展

生物安全（ｂｉｏｓａｆｅｔｙ）是指与以人类和环境为对象的生物学研究所产生的效应相关的安全性［1］,或对生物危害的检测、评价、监测、防范和治理的科学技术体系 ① 。遗传修饰生物体（ＧＭＯ）,特别是转基因植物的安全性是生物安全的重要内容,近几年已经引起政府、社会和科学界的广泛关注。转基因植物对人体健康的负面影响的考虑要点主要包括对人体的毒性、过敏原性、营养成分的改变与抗营养因子以及抗生素抗性等。对生态环境的负面影响即生态学风险的考虑要点包括转基因植物导致杂草问题,产生新病毒或加重病害,对非目标生物的影…     

Inducible Excision of Selectable Marker Gene from Transgenic Plants by the Cre/<Emphasis Type="Italic">lox</Emphasis> Site-specific Recombination System

In a plant transformation process, it is necessary to use marker genes that allow the selection of regenerated transgenic plants. However, selectable marker genes are generally superfluous once an intact transgenic plant has been established. Furthermore, they may cause regulatory difficulties for approving transgenic crop release and commercialization. We constructed a binary expression vector with the Cre/lox system with a view to eliminating a marker gene from transgenic plants conveniently. In the vector, recombinase gene cre under the control of heat shock promoter and selectable marker gene nptII under the control of CaMV35S promoter were placed between two lox P sites in direct orientation, while the gene of interest was inserted outside of the lox P sites. By using this vector, both cre and nptII genes were eliminated from most of the regenerated plants of primary transformed tobacco through heat shock treatment, while the gene of interest was retained and stably inherited. This autoexcision strategy, mediated by the Cre/lox system and subjected to heat shock treatment to eliminate a selectable marker gene, is easy to adopt and provides a promising approach to generate marker-free transgenic plants.     

Development of a simple and efficient system for excising selectable markers in Arabidopsis using a minimal promoter::Cre fusion construct

The development of rapid and efficient strategies to generate selectable marker-free transgenic plants could help increase the consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) plants. To produce marker-free transgenic plants without conditional treatment or the genetic crossing of offspring, we have developed a rapid and convenient DNA excision method mediated by the Cre/loxP recombination system under the control of a −46 minimal CaMV 35S promoter. The results of a transient expression assay showed that −46 minimal promoter::Cre recombinase (−46::Cre) can cause the loxP-specific excision of a selectable marker, thereby connecting the 35S promoter and β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Analysis of stable transgenic Arabidopsis plants indicated a positive correlation between loxP-specific DNA excision and GUS expression. PCR and DNA gel-blot analysis further revealed that nine of the 10 tested T₁ transgenic lines carried both excised and nonexcised constructs in their genomes. In the subsequent T₂ generation plants, over 30% of the individuals for each line were marker-free plants harboring the excised construct only. These results demonstrate that the −46::Cre fusion construct can be efficiently and easily utilized for producing marker-free transgenic plants.     

一种新的用于删除选择标记基因的Cre/lox系统

设计了一种新的诱导型Cre/lox系统,并在转基因烟草(Nicotianatabacum L.)中进行了验证.在诱导剂的作用下,位于同向lox位点之间的选择标记基因(hpt)和重组酶基因(Cre)在烟草愈伤组织中被删除.在该系统中,Cre基因在玉米乙酰苯胺类化合物诱导启动子(In5-2)的控制下表达.对转基因后代的分子检测结果表明,不论是否加入了诱导剂,目的基因(gus)均被整合到烟草基因组中;在诱导剂处理的48株转基因烟草To代中,45株的hpt基因被删除了.该系统只使用一个载体,克服了二次转化系统带来的问题.     

Heat-shock-mediated elimination of the nptII marker gene in transgenic apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.)

Production of marker-free genetically modified (GM) plants is one of the major challenges of molecular fruit breeding. Employing clean vector technologies, allowing the removal of undesired DNA sequences from GM plants, this goal can be achieved. The present study describes the establishment of a clean vector system in apple Malus×domestica Borkh., which is based on the use of the neomycin phosphotransferase II gene (nptII) as selectable marker gene and kanamycin/paramomycin as selective agent. The nptII gene can be removed after selection of GM shoots via site-specific excision mediated by heat-shock-inducible expression of the budding yeast FLP recombinase driven by the soybean Gmhsp17.5-E promoter. We created a monitoring vector containing the nptII and the flp gene as a box flanked by two direct repeats of the flp recognition target (FRT) sites. The FRT-flanked box separates the gusA reporter gene from the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter. Consequently, GUS expression does only occur after elimination of the FRT-flanked box. Transformation experiments using the monitoring vector resulted in a total of nine transgenic lines. These lines were investigated for transgenicity by PCR, RT-PCR and Southern hybridization. Among different temperature regimes tested, exposure to 42 °C for 3.5 to 4h led to efficient induction of FLP-mediated recombination and removal of the nptII marker gene. A second round of shoot regeneration from leaf explants led to GM apple plants completely free of the nptII gene.     

Expression of the B subunit of <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> heat-labile enterotoxin in tobacco using a herbicide resistance gene as a selection marker

The B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LTB) has been transformed to plants for use as an edible vaccine. We have developed a simple and reliable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method to express synthetic LTB gene in N. tabacum using a phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (bar) gene as a selectable marker. The synthetic LTB gene adapted to the coding sequence of tobacco plants was cloned to a plant expression vector under the control of the ubiquitin promoter and transformed to tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic plants were selected in the medium supplemented with 5 mg l^-1 phosphinothricin (PPT). The amount of LTB protein detected in the transgenic tobacco was approximately 3.3% of the total soluble protein, approximately 300-fold higher than in the plants generated using the native LTB gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. The transgenic plants that were transferred to a greenhouse had harvested seeds that proved to be resistant to herbicide. Thus, the described protocol could provide a useful tool for the transformation of tobacco plants.     

Cre/ lox site-specific recombination controls the excision of a transgene from the rice genome

The Cre/lox site-specific recombination controls the excision of a target DNA segment by recombination between two lox sites flanking it, mediated by the Cre recombinase. We have studied the functional expression of the Cre/lox system to excise a transgene from the rice genome. We developed transgenic plants carrying the target gene, hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) flanked by two lox sites and transgenic plants harboring the Cre gene. Each lox plant was crossed with each Cre plant reciprocally. In the Cre/lox hybrid plants, the Cre recombinase mediates recombination between two lox sites, resulting in excision of the hpt gene. The recombination event could be detected because it places the CaMV 35S promoter of the hpt gene adjacent to a promoterless gusA gene; as a result the gusA gene is activated and its expression could be visualized. In 73 Cre/lox hybrid plants from various crosses of T0 transgenic plants, 19 expressed GUS, and in 132 Cre/lox hybrid plants from crosses of T2 transgenic plants, 77 showed GUS expression. Molecular data proved the excision event occurred in all the GUS⁺ plants. Recombination occurred with high efficiency at the early germinal stage, or randomly during somatic development stages. Received. 2 April 2001 / Accepted: 29 June 2001     

A Cre/loxP-mediated self-activating gene excision system to produce marker gene free transgenic soybean plants

Marker-gene-free transgenic soybean plants were produced by isolating a developmentally regulated embryo-specific gene promoter, app1, from Arabidopsis and developing a self-activating gene excision system using the P1 bacteriophage Cre/loxP recombination system. To accomplish this, the Cre recombinase gene was placed under control of the app1 promoter and, together with a selectable marker gene (hygromycin phosphotransferase), were cloned between two loxP recombination sites. This entire sequence was then placed between a constitutive promoter and a coding region for either β-glucuronidase (Gus) or glyphosate acetyltransferase (Gat). Gene excision would remove the entire sequence between the two loxP sites and bring the coding region to the constitutive promoter for expression. Using this system marker gene excision occurred in over 30% of the stable transgenic events as indicated by the activation of the gus reporter gene or the gat gene in separate experiments. Transgenic plants with 1 or 2 copies of a functional excision-activated gat transgene and without any marker gene were obtained in T0 or T1 generation. This demonstrates the feasibility of using developmentally controlled promoters to mediate marker excision in soybean.     

Cre/<Emphasis Type="Italic">lox</Emphasis> system to develop selectable marker free transgenic tobacco plants conferring resistance against sap sucking homopteran insect

A binary expression vector was constructed containing the insecticidal gene Allium sativum leaf agglutinin (ASAL), and a selectable nptII marker gene cassette, flanked by lox sites. Similarly, another binary vector was developed with the chimeric cre gene construct. Transformed tobacco plants were generated with these two independent vectors. Each of the T(0) lox plants was crossed with T(0) Cre plants. PCR analyses followed by the sequencing of the target T-DNA part of the hybrid T(1) plants demonstrated the excision of the nptII gene in highly precised manner in certain percentage of the T(1) hybrid lines. The frequency of such marker gene excision was calculated to be 19.2% in the hybrids. Marker free plants were able to express ASAL efficiently and reduce the survivability of Myzus persiceae, the deadly pest of tobacco significantly, compared to the control tobacco plants. Results of PCR and Southern blot analyses of some of the T(2) plants detected the absence of cre as well as nptII genes. Thus, the crossing strategy involving Cre/lox system for the excision of marker genes appears to be very effective and easy to execute. Documentation of such marker excision phenomenon in the transgenic plants expressing the important insecticidal protein for the first time has a great significance from agricultural and biotechnological points of view.     

Isolation and characterization of a novel plant promoter that directs strong constitutive expression of transgenes in plants

A novel, constitutively expressed gene, designated MtHP, was isolated from the model legume species Medicago truncatula. Sequence analysis indicates that MtHP most likely belongs to the PR10 multi-gene family. The MtHP promoter was fused to a -glucuronidase gene to characterize its expression in different plant species. Transient assay by microprojectile bombardment and hairy root transformation by Agrobacterium rhizogenes revealed GUS expression in leaf, stem, radicle and root in M. truncatula. Detailed analysis in transgenic Arabidopsis plants demonstrated that the promoter could direct transgene expression in different tissues and organs at various developmental stages; its expression pattern was similar to that of CaMV35S promoter, and the level of expression was higher than the reporter gene driven by CaMV35S promoter. Deletion analysis revealed that even a 107 bp fragment of the promoter could still lead to a moderate level of expression. The promoter was further characterized in white clover (Trifolium repens), a widely grown forage legume species. Strong constitutive expression was observed in transgenic white clover plants. Compared with CaMV35S promoter, the level of GUS activity in transgenic white clover was higher when the transgene was driven by MtHP promoter. Thus, the promoter provides a useful alternative to the CaMV35S promoter in plant transformation for high levels of constitutive expression.     

伪狂犬病毒gD基因在转基因烟草中的表达

将猪伪狂犬病毒 (pseudorabiesvirus ,PRV)最主要的保护性抗原基因gD完整编码区亚克隆到修饰的植物双元表达载体pBI 35SL中 ,使其置于强启动子CaMV 35S doubleenhancer TEV 5′UTR下游 ,构建的转基因植物双元表达质粒经农杆菌介导转化烟草 .PCR检测叶片筛选阳性植株 ,Southern杂交进一步证实gD已整合到转基因烟草基因组中 .固相酶联斑点试验和Western印迹表明 ,gD在烟草获得正确表达并具有抗原性     

35S驱动Pib基因启动区和编码区的转基因初步分析

将包含Pib基因启动区及下游完整编码区的9.9 kb DNA片段克隆到双元载体pPZP2Ha3(+)中, 构建了35S驱动的正义表达载体pNAR701(20.3 kb); 同时将Pib基因编码区6 986~9 392 bp之间的DNA片段, 克隆到双元载体pPZP2Ha3(-)中, 构建了35S驱动的反义表达载体pNAR703(12.8 kb); 用农杆菌介导法转入中感稻瘟病水稻品种R109中。PCR、Southern blot鉴定以及转基因T0代种子的潮霉素抗性鉴定证明, 目的基因已经整合到R109基因组中, 并能在后代稳定遗传。Northern blot分析表明含有启动区及下游完整编码的Pib基因片段在35S驱动下能够在转基因后代中表达。对T1代苗期转基因植株和分蘖期离体叶片进行抗稻瘟病初步分析, 结果显示pNAR701转基因植株对稻瘟病生理小种ZD1和ZG1的抗性较对照增强, 而转反义片段的pNAR703转基因植株对稻瘟病的抗性较对照减弱。