岷江百合WRKY转录因子基因的克隆与功能分析

WRKY转录因子家族在植物应对非生物和生物胁迫的防卫反应中起重要作用。岷江百合(Lilium regale Wilson)是高抗枯萎病的野生百合,该研究基于前期转录组测序分析,采用RT PCR方法从岷江百合中克隆得到WRKY转录因子基因LrWRKY4并分析其功能,以探讨岷江百合对枯萎病菌尖孢镰刀菌(Fusarium oxysporum)侵染的转录调控机制,为进一步研究岷江百合WRKY基因家族的功能奠定基础。结果显示：(1)LrWRKY4开放阅读框为993 bp,编码330个氨基酸,LrWRKY4含有一个高度保守的‘WRKYGQK’七肽序列和一个C₂H₂锌指基序,属于Ⅱc类WRKY转录因子。(2)成功构建GFP LrWRKY4融合载体并通过根癌农杆菌介导转化洋葱表皮细胞,激光共聚焦显微观察发现,GFP LrWRKY4融合蛋白表达的绿色荧光特异性地分布在洋葱表皮细胞的细胞核中。(3)成功构建了过表达载体pCAMBIA2300s LrWRKY4并转化烟草,得到11个T₂代转基因烟草株系,且转LrWRKY4基因烟草与野生型烟草(WT)在表型上无明显差异;尖孢镰刀菌接种根部和叶片的实验结果显示,转LrWRKY4基因烟草对尖孢镰刀菌的抗性较WT明显增强;qRT PCR分析显示,岷江百合LrWRKY4基因在11个转基因烟草株系中均有表达,且转基因烟草中JA/SA信号途径相关基因的表达上调,并诱导了部分病程蛋白相关基因以及抗氧化相关基因的表达上调。(4)岷江百合鳞片浸染LrWRKY4 RNAi载体后的腐烂程度和病变面积均远大于RNAi空载转化的鳞片;瞬时表达LrWRKY4 RNAi载体的岷江百合鳞片中LrWRKY4基因的表达水平较对照下降了约45.7%,接种尖孢镰刀菌72 h后表达水平下降了93.8%;瞬时表达LrWRKY4 RNAi后,一些JA/SA信号途径相关基因的表达水平明显下降。研究表明,岷江百合LrWRKY4编码一个定位于植物细胞核的Ⅱc类WRKY转录因子;LrWRKY4基因能够在转基因烟草中稳定表达,且过表达LrWRKY4基因提高了烟草对尖孢镰刀菌的抗性;但瞬时表达LrWRKY4 RNAi降低了岷江百合JA/SA信号途径相关基因的表达并增强了对尖孢镰刀菌的敏感性。推测LrWRKY4基因是岷江百合抗尖孢镰刀菌防卫反应中的正调控因子,可能通过参与JA/SA介导的信号传导途径,诱导防卫相关基因的表达从而调节其对尖孢镰刀菌的抗性。     

小麦盐华南象草PpCAD基因的亚细胞定位及其在转基因烟草中的异源表达迫相关基因的克隆与表达分析

该研究根据已克隆的华南象草(Pennisetum purpureum cv.Huanan)肉桂醇脱氢酶(CAD)基因PpCAD的cDNA序列,构建亚细胞定位载体pAN580-PpCAD,用PEG介导法转化象草原生质体,以探究PpCAD蛋白在细胞内的定位;同时构建植物过表达载体pBA002-PpCAD,通过农杆菌介导法在烟草中异源表达,以研究PpCAD基因与植物木质素合成的关系。结果显示:(1)PpCAD定位在象草原生质体的细胞质内;(2)过表达载体pBA002-PpCAD转化烟草后获得27株转基因烟草,其中25株PCR鉴定为阳性;(3)半定量RT-PCR检测6株转基因烟草后发现,PpCAD基因在不同植株的表达量存在差异,通过Southern杂交检测后发现该差异与目的基因插入的拷贝数有关;(4)6株转基因烟草和野生型烟草表型上没有明显差异,除目的基因多拷贝插入的植株OEC6外,木质素含量有不同程度的提高,最高比野生型提高了56.50%。研究表明,PpCAD是一个细胞质蛋白,在烟草中过表达PpCAD能够提高植株木质素含量,表明PpCAD基因参与了植物的木质素合成,可用于象草的木质素调控研究。     

NtMTP1基因过表达对增强烟草Zn胁迫耐受性的研究

该研究采用实时荧光定量PCR（qRT PCR）技术,对烟草金属耐受蛋白1（MTP1）基因（NtMTP1）在烟草不同组织以及不同质量浓度ZnSO4处理下的表达进行了分析;利用农杆菌介导法,将NtMTP1基因植物过表达载体pBI121 35S∶∶MTP1转化野生型烟草,筛选得到NtMTP1基因过表达的转基因烟草植株,并进行不同质量浓度ZnSO₄处理,检测NtMTP1基因过表达对烟草Zn胁迫耐受性的影响。结果表明：NtMTP1基因在烟草中呈现组织特异性表达,主要在花与叶中表达;NtMTP1基因的表达受到Zn²⁺诱导,在400 μmol/L ZnSO₄处理后,表达量达到最高,为对照组的3.81倍;3株转基因烟草植株中NtMTP1基因表达量分别为野生型的10.42、7.61和11.84倍,与野生型相比,过表达植株对Zn胁迫的耐受性显著增强。研究结果为阐明NtMTP1基因在烟草体内Zn²⁺转运过程中的生物学功能提供了重要依据。     

基于Tail-PCR分析AN2基因上游启动子活性

黑果枸杞(Lycium ruthenicum)富含花青素,AN2基因是调控黑果枸杞花青素合成代谢的主效基因。为解析AN2基因启动子的活性差异,采用Tail-PCR方法分别克隆了黑果枸杞和红果枸杞(L. barbarum) AN2基因起始密码子上游约1 686 bp (LrAN2p)和1 495 bp (LbAN2p)的序列。Plant CARE预测表明,LbAN2p和LrAN2p中分别有133和137个的顺式作用元件, 其中,参与光调控的顺式元件分别有11和15个;参与激素响应相关的顺式元件分别有13和16个。构建AN2启动子植物表达载体pKGWFS7:LbAN2p和pKGWFS7:LrAN2p,利用农杆菌介导的烟草遗传转化体系获得转基因烟草。GUS染色结果表明,LrAN2p能够驱动GUS在烟草中的表达,叶片呈现蓝色,具有较LbAN2p更强的启动活性,qRT-PCR结果表明,LrAN2p转基因烟草中GUS基因具有更高的转录水平,这可能会使AN2基因在黑果枸杞中具有更高的表达,激活黑果枸杞花青素合成代谢通路。这为解析枸杞果色形成及AN2基因的表达调控机制奠定了理论基础。     

烟草TCP家族成员鉴定及表达分析

TCP家族作为植物特有的转录因子,在植物发育的不同方面发挥着重要作用。为筛选烟草中TCP家族成员,本研究通过全基因组同源比对,鉴定烟草与拟南芥TCP家族同源序列。利用生物信息学的方法分析其理化性质、系统进化关系、顺式作用元件等;筛选AtTCP3/AtTCP4的同源基因,并利用RT-qPCR检测在20% PEG6000处理下的基因表达量变化。结果表明烟草中含有TCP家族成员63个,其氨基酸序列长度范围为89−596 aa,蛋白亲水性(grand average of hydropathicity, GRAVY)范围为−1.147−0.125,等电点(isoelectric point, pI)范围为4.42−9.94,内含子个数为0−3,亚细胞定位均位于细胞核。保守结构域和系统进化关系分析结果表明,烟草TCP家族可分为PCF、CIN和CYC/TB1这3个亚家族且每个亚家族具有稳定序列。基因启动子区顺式作用元件结果表明,TCP家族基因含有低温顺式作用元件(LTR)及多种胁迫及代谢调控相关的元件(MYB、MYC)等顺式作用元件。基因表达模式分析表明,AtTCP3/AtTCP4同源基因(NtTCP6、NtTCP28、NtTCP30、NtTCP33、NtTCP42、NtTCP57和NtTCP63)在20% PEG6000处理下表达量显著上调表达/下调表达,并发现NtTCP30和NtTCP57基因对干旱胁迫响应较为明显。研究结果剖析了烟草基因组中的TCP家族,为烟草抗旱基因功能研究及品种培育提供了候选基因。     

RNA沉默手段分析烟草悬浮细胞中线粒体分裂蛋白NtFIS1A/1B功能

为了解烟草悬浮细胞中的线粒体分裂蛋白的功能,将拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)的线粒体分裂复合体成员FIS1A和FIS1B在烟草(Nicotiana tabacum)表达序列数据库中进行序列比对,鉴定到烟草中的同源基因NtFIS1A 和NtFIS1B (NtFIS1A/1B).以烟草悬浮细胞为材料,通过RNA 干扰和人工microRNA 干扰技术抑制NtFIS1A/1B 的表达, RT-PCR 分析结果表明,RNA 沉默细胞系中NtFIS1A/1B 的转录受到抑制.观察RNA 沉默细胞系中的线粒体形态可见,当NtFIS1A/1B 的表达被抑制后,单个线粒体的平均面积显著增加.这些表明NtFIS1A/1B 参与了烟草悬浮细胞中线粒体分裂的调控,有助于了解烟草中线粒体的形态调控.     

中国水仙LAR基因启动子的克隆及功能初步分析

为了解NtLAR基因的表达调控机制,该研究以中国水仙(Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis)‘金盏银台’ DNA为模版,采用染色体步移法克隆了NtLAR基因起始密码子ATG上游启动子片段序列,测序结果显示,该克隆片段共995 bp(GenBank登录号：MH371155)。通过PlantCare数据库对获得的启动子序列顺式作用元件预测发现,NtLAR启动子序列中包含有大量顺式作用元件,如光反应元件ACE、G box、GATA motif、GT1 motif,激素响应元件CGTCA motif、ABRE、TGACG motif、TGA element,胁迫响应元件和MYB 结合位点 MBS等。成功构建了植物表达载体pBI121 pNtLAR∷GUS和pGreenII 0800 pNtLAR Luc。pBI121 pNtLAR∷GUS在烟草叶片的瞬时表达结果显示,克隆的启动子片段具有活性;pBI121 pNtLAR∷GUS在水仙不同组织器官的瞬时表达实验发现,NtLAR基因的表达具有组织特异型,其在鳞茎盘的表达量较高,在花瓣和副冠中的表达量较低;将pBI121 pNtLAR∷GUS分别和中国水仙R2R3 MYB转录因子NtMYB2、NtMYB5混合注射烟草叶片,GUS染色结果显示NtMYB2和NtMYB5并不能抑制NtLAR启动子的活性,定量PCR结果与GUS染色结果一致。采用pGreenII 0800 pNtLAR Luc载体进行双荧光素酶实验进一步验证了GUS染色实验和定量PCR结果。     

FaMYB73调控草莓果实苹果酸合成的研究

苹果酸是草莓果实主要的有机酸之一,其含量的高低显著影响草莓果实的风味。该研究以‘红颜’草莓为试材,采用反转录(RT PCR)的方法克隆得到一个新的MYB转录因子——FaMYB73。该基因包含有756 bp的开放阅读框,编码252个氨基酸,预测其蛋白质分子量为27.6 kD,等电点为6.8。功能域分析表明,FaMYB73蛋白含有保守的R2R3结构域;亚细胞定位于细胞核中。实时荧光定量(qRT PCR)分析表明,FaMYB73基因在草莓各个组织均有表达,且在花和叶中的表达相对较高;在果实的白果期FaMYB73基因的表达量最高,且随着果实成熟,FaMYB73基因的表达下调,说明该基因的表达具有组织和时期特异性。高效液相色谱法(HPLC)检测结果发现,苹果酸含量在草莓果实发育期呈先上升后下降的趋势,且与FaMYB73基因的表达量呈正相关。草莓瞬时注射结果显示,FaMYB73过表达显著促进了苹果酸的积累,沉默则显著降低了苹果酸的含量。同时,获得了2个转FaMYB73基因烟草稳定表达株系,FaMYB73过量表达显著提高了烟草叶片中苹果酸的含量。研究表明,FaMYB73参与调控草莓果实中苹果酸的合成,为进一步研究其调控机制提供了理论依据。     

白菜BcMAF2基因克隆及功能验证

为了揭示白菜（Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis Makino）开花调控转录因子（MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING 2）MAF2在开花过程中的作用,该研究通过同源克隆的方法获得BcMAF2基因的全长序列。结果表明：（1）BcMAF2基因含有1个长度为588 bp开放阅读框,编码196个氨基酸;将BcMAF2蛋白氨基酸序列与其他物种MAF2氨基酸比较表明,BcMAF2基因与其他物种中该基因具有高度保守的结构域。（2）将BcMAF2与YFP和HA标签融合,构建亚细胞定位载体pEarleyGate101 BcMAF2 YFP HA,采用农杆菌介导法将其瞬时表达于本氏烟草（Nicotiana tabacum）叶片中,激光共聚焦显微镜观察发现BcMAF2蛋白定位于细胞核中,表明BcMAF2符合作为转录因子的功能。（3）将BcMAF2基因遗传转化拟南芥中进行功能验证,通过蛋白印迹试验获得5个过表达株系,且在选取的蛋白表达量较高的第8、10株拟南芥中均表现出明显延迟其抽薹开花表型。研究推测BcMAF2基因可能参与植物开花的春化途径。     

除虫菊TcALDH和TcGLIP基因启动子克隆及功能分析

天然除虫菊酯是从除虫菊(Tanacetum cinerariifolium)中提取的绿色植物源生物杀虫剂。醛脱氢酶(TcALDH)和GDSL脂肪酶(TcGLIP)是除虫菊酯生物合成途径中的关键限速酶。为探究TcALDH和TcGLIP基因的功能,该研究从除虫菊无性系‘W99''中克隆得到TcALDH和TcGLIP基因的启动子,并通过生物信息学分析、组织化学染色(GUS染色)、荧光素酶报告实验和外源植物激素处理实验对其启动子的调控元件、启动子活性、激素诱导特异性和组织特异性进行分析。结果表明:(1)克隆得到的TcALDH和TcGLIP启动子序列分别为2 848、1 343 bp,均含有多个与逆境应答和激素信号相关的顺式作用元件。(2)分别构建了启动子和荧光素酶融合的植物表达载体,在烟草叶片中观察荧光成像发现,TcALDH启动子具有茉莉酸甲酯(MeJA)和脱落酸(ABA)激素诱导特异性。(3)用MeJA和ABA处理除虫菊‘W99''组培苗发现,TcALDH的表达量在12 h内受ABA诱导时上调,受MeJA诱导时先升高后降低,TcGLIP的表达量受ABA和MeJA诱导下调。(4)分别构建了TcALDH和TcGLIP启动子与GUS基因融合的植物表达载体,转化烟草并对其转基因叶片进行GUS活性染色发现,TcALDH启动子在烟草叶片腺体、腺毛头部及叶肉细胞中表达,而TcGLIP启动子仅在烟草叶肉细胞中表达。综上认为,TcALDH和TcGLIP的启动子具有组织特异性,TcALDH启动子具有MeJA和ABA激素诱导特性。该研究结果为除虫菊TcALDH和TcGLIP基因参与除虫菊酯合成的调控机制提供了新见解。     

Evaluation of the Use of the Tobacco PR-1a Promoter to Monitor Defense Gene Expression by the Luciferase Bioluminescence Reporter System

Because of their marked responsiveness to induction signals, genes encoding pathogenesis-related proteins are used as markers to monitor defense gene expression in plants. To develop a non-invasive bioluminescence reporter assay system, we tested acidic PR-1 gene promoters from tobacco and Arabidopsis. These two promoters share common regulatory elements and are believed to show similar responsiveness to various stimuli but the results of transient expression assays by microprojectile bombardment of various plant cells and npr1 mutant Arabidopsis suggest that the tobacco PR-1a promoter is superior to its Arabidopsis counterpart in terms of responsiveness to salicylic acid treatment. Transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings harboring the tobacco PR-1a promoter fused to firefly luciferase showed marked induction in response to treatment with chemicals that induce defense gene expression in plants. These results suggest that the tobacco PR-1a promoter is applicable in monitoring defense-gene expression in various plant species.     

Construction and testing of an intron-containing luciferase reporter gene from<Emphasis Type="Italic">Renilla reniformis</Emphasis>

We describe a newRenilla reniformis luciferase reporter gene,RiLUC, which was designed to allow detection of luciferase activity in studies involvingAgrobacterium-based transient expression studies. TheRLUC gene was altered to contain a modified intron from the castor bean catalase gene while maintaining consensus eukaryotic splicing sites recognized by the plant spliceosome.RLUC andRiLUC reporter genes were fused to the synthetic plant SUPER promoter. Luciferase activity within agrobacteria containing the SUPER-RLUC construct increased during growth in culture. In contrast, agrobacteria harboring the SUPER-RiLUC gene fusion showed no detectable luciferase activity. Agrobacteria containing these gene fusions were cotransformed with a compatible normalization plasmid containing a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV) joined to the firefly luciferase coding region (FiLUC) and infused into tobacco leaf tissues through stomatal openings. The kinetics of luciferase production from theRLUC orRiLUC reporters were consistent, with expression of theRiLUC gene being limited to transiently transformed plant cells.RiLUC activity from the reporter gene fusions was measured transiently and within stably transformed tobacco leaf tissues. Analysis of stably transformed tobacco plants harboring either reporter gene fusion showed that the intron altered neither the levels of luciferase activity nor tissue-specific expression patterns driven by the SUPER promoter. These results demonstrate that theRiLUC reporter gene can be used to monitor luciferase expression in transient and stable transformation experiments without interference from contaminating agrobacteria.     

Arrest of embryo development in Brassica napus mediated by modified Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A

Intracellularly expressed cytotoxins are useful tools both to study the action of plant regulatory sequences in transgenic plants and to modify plant phenotype. We have engineered a low mammalian toxicity derivative of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A for intracellular expression in plant cells by fusing the ADP ribosylating domain of the exotoxin gene to plant regulatory sequences. The efficacy of exotoxin A on plant cells was demonstrated by transient expression of the modified exotoxin gene in tobacco protoplasts: the exotoxin gene inhibited the expression of a co-electroporated -glucuronidase gene. An exotoxin with an introduced frameshift mutation was also effective at inhibiting -glucuronidase expression in the transient assay; the activity of the frameshifted gene was presumably a result of frameshifting during translation or initiation of translation at a codon other than AUG. When fused to napin regulatory sequences, the exotoxin gene specifically arrested embryo development in the seeds of transgenic Brassica napus plants concomitant with the onset of napin expression. The napin/exotoxin chimeric gene did not have the same pattern of expression in tobacco as in B. napus; in addition to exhibiting an inhibition of seed development, the transgenic tobacco plants were male-sterile.     

Analysis of splice donor and acceptor site function in a transposable gene trap derived from the maize element Activator

Gene trap vectors have been used in insertional mutagenesis in animal systems to clone genes with interesting patterns of expression. These vectors are designed to allow the expression of a reporter gene when the vector inserts into a transcribed region. In this paper we examine alternative splicing events that result in the expression of a GUS reporter gene carried on a Ds element which has been designed as a gene trap vector for plants. We have developed a rapid and reliable method based on PCR to study such events. Many splice donor sites were observed in the 3 Ac border. The relative frequency of utilisation of certain splice donor and acceptor sites differed between tobacco and Arabidopsis. A higher stringency of splicing was observed in Arabidopsis.     

Synthesis and accumulation of pea plastocyanin in transgenic tobacco plants

The pea plastocyanin gene in a 3.5 kbp Eco RI fragment of pea nuclear DNA was introduced into tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Regenerated plants contained pea plastocyanin located within the chloroplast thylakoid membrane system. Analysis of seedlings from a self-pollinated transgenic plant containing a single copy of the pea plastocyanin gene indicated that seedlings homozygous for the pea gene contained almost twice as much pea plastocyanin as seedlings hemizygous for the pea gene. Homozygous seedlings contained approximately equal amounts of pea and tobacco plastocyanins. The amount of tobacco plastocyanin in leaves of transgenic plants was unaffected by the expression of the pea plastocyanin gene. The mRNA from the pea gene in tobacco was indistinguishable by northern blotting and S1 nuclease protection from the mRNA found in pea. In both pea and transgenic tobacco, expression of the pea plastocyanin gene was induced by light in leaves but was suppressed in roots. Pea plastocyanin free of contaminating tobacco plastocyanin was purified from transgenic tobacco plants and shown to be indistinguishable from natural pea plastocyanin by N-terminal protein sequencing and ¹H NMR spectroscopy.     

Transactivation of a target gene using a suppressor tRNA in transgenic tobacco plants

The abundance of tRNAs, together with their central role in translation, has generated considerable interest in the use of tRNA genes for biotechnological applications. One such application is the use of suppressor tRNAs to transactivate target genes containing premature stop codons. Previous work has shown that such systems can work in transient expression experiments in plant protoplasts; here these experiments are extended to show that suppression of stop codons can occur in whole plants. Transgenic tobacco plants homozygous for a modified tRNA^Leu gene expressing a strong amber suppressor tRNA, and plants carrying a β-glucuronidase (gus) gene inactivated by a premature amber stop codon have been obtained. When the two types of plants are crossed, many of the F₁ hybrids show significant GUS activity. The GUS activity is dependent on the presence of both the suppressor tRNA gene and the gus gene. Tobacco plants carrying the suppressor tRNA gene are phenotypically normal, fertile and the gene shows normal Mendelian inheritance. The potential applications of such a system are discussed.     

Expression in transgenic tobacco of the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase gene modified by intron insertions of various sizes

A plant selectable marker gene consisting of cauliflower mosaic virus expression signals and the proteincoding sequence of bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase was modified by insertion of an intron sequence from a storage protein gene, phaseolin. Correct and efficient splicing of the resulting mosaic RNA was observed in transgenic tobacco plants. The insertion of various linkers or gradual increase of intron size by addition in both orientations of internal intron sequences from another plant gene (parsley, 4-coumarate ligase) had little or no effect on the precision of slicing. The gene activity measured by selectability assay in the protoplast transformation showed that only introns enlarged to 1161 bases and longer caused decreased selectability. The suitability of such mosaic marker genes for studies of RNA splicing, DNA recombination and early events after infection of plants with Agrobacterium is discussed.     

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated reporter gene expression systems in transgenic tobacco plants

In mammals, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mediates expression of certain genes, including CYP1A1, in response to exposure to dioxins and related compounds. We have constructed a mouse AhR-mediated gene expression systems for a β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene consisting of an AhR, an AhR nuclear translocator (Arnt), and a xenobiotic response element (XRE)-driven promoter in transgenic tobacco plants. On treatment with the AhR ligands 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), β-naphthoflavone (βNF), and indigo, the transgenic tobacco plants exhibited enhanced GUS activity, presumably by inducible expression of the reporter gene. The recombinant AhR (AhRV), with the activation domain replaced by that of the Herpes simplex virus protein VP16, induced GUS activity much more than the wild-type AhR in the transgenic tobacco plants. Plants carrying AhRV expressed the GUS reporter gene in a dose- and time-dependent manner when treated with MC; GUS activity was detected at 5 nM MC on solid medium and at 12 h after soaking in 25 μM MC. Histochemical GUS staining showed that this system was active mainly in leaf and stem. These results suggest that the AhR-mediated reporter gene expression system has potential for the bioassay of dioxins in the environment and as a novel gene expression system in plants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

铁皮石斛DoSMT2基因的功能分析

为了揭示铁皮石斛(Dendrobium officinale)甾醇C-24甲基转移酶2基因(DoSMT2)在甾醇代谢过程的功能,该研究通过根癌农杆菌介导法将来源于铁皮石斛的DoSMT2基因转化烟草(Nicotiana tabacum),并采用qRT-PCR技术检测DoSMT2基因在转基因烟草叶片中的表达,采用气相色谱质谱法分析菜油甾醇和谷甾醇的含量。结果显示:(1)成功获得DoSMT2基因的开放阅读框(1 119 bp),并成功构建正义植物表达载体质粒pCXSN-DoSMT2,经农杆菌介导的烟草叶盘转化法转化烟草并鉴定,获得4株阳性转基因烟草植株。(2)Southern blot结果表明,4株转基因烟草植株都有1条杂交信号带,而非转基因烟草植株没有,说明外源DoSMT2基因都以单拷贝整合到4株转基因烟草基因组中。(3)qRT-PCR检测显示,非转基因烟草未检测到外源DoSMT2基因的表达,4株转基因烟草都能检测到DoSMT2基因的表达,且表达水平差异极显著,各株系表达量高低依次为P3P1P2(P4)。(4)气相色谱质谱分析显示,转DoSMT2基因烟草叶片的菜油甾醇含量均极显著低于非转基因烟草叶片,而谷甾醇含量均极显著高于非转基因烟草叶片。研究表明,DoSMT2具有催化24-亚甲基胆甾烯醇转化形成24-亚乙基胆甾烯醇活性。     

Differential Expression of Endogenous Ferritin Genes and Iron Homeostasis Alteration in Transgenic Tobacco Overexpressing Soybean Ferritin Gene

For studying the effects of endogenous ferritin gene expressions (NtFer1, GenBank accession number ay083924; and NtFer2, GenBank accession number ay141105) on the iron homeostasis in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants expressing soybean (Glycine max Merr) ferritin gene (SoyFer1, GenBank accession number m64337), the transgenic tobacco has been produced by placing soybean ferritin cDNA cassette under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. The exogenous gene expression was examined by both Northern- and Western-blot analyses. Comparison of endogenous ferritin gene expressions between nontransformant and transgenic tobacco plants showed that the expression of NtFer1 was increased in the leaves of transgenic tobacco plants, whereas the NtFer2 expression was unchanged. The iron concentration in the leaves of transgenic tobacco plants was about 1.5-folds higher than that in nontransformant. Enhanced growth of transgenic tobacco was observed at the early development stages, resulting in plant height and fresh weights significantly greater than those in the nontransformant. These results demonstrated that exogenous ferritin expression induced increased expression of at least one of the endogenous ferritin genes in transgenic tobacco plants by enhancing the ferric chelate reductase activity and iron transport ability of the root, and improved the rate of photosynthesis.