Analysis of the Maize 19 kD Zein Gene Promoter Fragment Driving Seed specific Expression

A deletion works of a maize 19 kD zein gene promoter in the 5'end was performed and six promoter fragments of different length were obtained. A series of expression vectors was constructed and then transferred into tobacco ( Nicotiarta tabacum L. ) plants. GUS activity assays indicated that the expression of 488 bp promoter was tissue-specific, for which GUS was active only in transgenic tobacco seeds. The other four fragments containing 378 bp,302 bp,152 bp and 124 bp also have the activity of promoter. They could drive gus gene expressed not only in seeds but also in roots and petioles.     

玉米19kD醇溶贮藏蛋白基因启动子种子特异性表达控制区段的分析

为研究玉米（Ｚｅａｍａｙｓ　Ｌ．）１９ｋＤ醇溶贮藏蛋白（ｚｅｉｎ）基因启动子种子特异性表达的控制区段,将全长６９４ｂｐ的启动子进行５’端缺失,共得到６个缺失突变体,长度分别为４８８ｂｐ、３７８ｂｐ、３０２ｂｐ、１５２ｂｐ、１２４ｂｐ和８５ｂｐ。将６个片段分别与报告基因ｇｕｓ连接构建成表达载体ｐＤＧＢ系列,经土壤农杆菌（Ａｇｒｏｂａｃｔｅｒｉｕｍ）介导转化,引入烟草。ＧＵＳ活性检测证明,４８８ｂｐ启动子片段能促使ｇｕｓ基因在种子中特异表达。３７８ｂｐ、３０２ｂｐ、１５２ｂｐ和１２４ｂｐ片段启动子引导的ｇｕｓ基因在烟草根、叶柄、种子中均可表达。     

Analysis of a maize α-tubulin gene promoter by transient expression and in transgenic tobacco plants

The pattern of expression directed by the promoter of the maize Tub α 1 gene was investigated by analysis of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) and β-glucuronidase (GUS) activities in transient expression experiments of maize and tobacco protoplasts. The same promoter was also investigated by histochemical GUS analysis in transgenic tobacco plants containing promoter gene fusions. As determined by histochemical tests, the Tub α 1 promoter gene preferentially directs GUS expression in regenerating root tip meristems and pollen. This pattern corresponds to the distinctive features of natural expression of the gene in maize as determined by Northern analysis. However, no expression is observed in other meristematic tissues of the transgenic tobacco plants, as in shoot apex or in coleoptiles, which is weakly detected in maize. Analysis of the regulatory properties of 5' promoter deletions showed that the proximal region of the promoter, from positions −1410 or −449 to 15 bp upstream of the ATG, is sufficient to establish the qualitative pattern of expression in transgenic tobacco plants. Deletions to positions −352 or −117 abolished the expression in roots, but not in pollen, suggesting that upstream of these positions there are elements responsible for the pattern in root. Further deletions abolished all the promoter activity, suggesting that this promoter region contains the elements essential for expression in pollen. The different patterns and levels of transient and stable expression are discussed.     

甜瓜黄瓜素基因启动子表达载体的构建及分析

该研究构建了由黄瓜素基因5′端310bp启动子序列驱动β-葡萄糖醛酸酶(GUS)报告基因的植物表达载体pPZP-CGN,通过花粉管通道法将植物表达载体pPZP-CGN导入甜瓜,并采用荧光法定量测定转基因植株中GUS活性。结果显示,gus基因在果实中高表达,而在根、茎、叶等组织中表达活性很低,表明黄瓜素基因上游310bp启动子具有指导外源基因在果实中高效特异表达的特性。     

pib基因启动子及其诱导启动性初探

将pib基因上游5.7 kb区段取代pCAMBIA1301中gus基因上游的35S启动子构建了pib拟启动区-GUS+ 35S-hpt 基因表达载体pNAR604。经农杆菌介导转化水稻成熟胚愈伤,获得了转基因抗潮霉素愈伤和36株转基因水稻植株。 转基因抗性愈伤和转基因植株根的组织化学GUS活性检测表明,光照培养下的抗性愈伤和转基因植株根不能使X-gluc显色,而暗处理24 h后的抗性愈伤和定植后转基因植株的根能使X-gluc显色。转基因植株GUS荧光定量分析结果表明,GUS表达具有器官特异性,黑暗处理前根的GUS活性最高、茎次之,分别是是叶片的7倍和3倍,叶片中仅有痕量本底。24 h黑暗处理后根、茎、叶中GUS活性都有增加,且叶片中的增加比例最大,其活性仅次于根。5 mmol/L水杨酸和0.3 mol/L NaCl叶面喷施转基因植株24 h后叶片中GUS活性分别为处理前的2.7和3.6倍。初步确定pib拟启动区是一个诱导型启动子。黑暗、水杨酸和NaCl能诱导该启动子启动活性。     

Developmental and environmental regulation of tissue- and cell-specific expression for a pea protein farnesyltransferase gene in transgenic plants

Farnesylation mediates membrane targeting and in vivo activities of several key regulatory proteins such as Ras and Ras-related GTPases and protein kinases in yeast and mammals, and is implicated in cell cycle control and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling in plants. In this study, the developmental expression of a pea protein farnesyl-transferase (FTase) gene was examined using transgenic expression of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene fused to a 3.2 kb 5′ upstream sequence of the gene encoding the pea FTase β subunit. Coordinate expression of the GUS transgene and endogenous tobacco FTase β subunit gene in tobacco cell lines suggests that the 3.2 kb region contains the key FTase promoter elements. In transgenic tobacco plants, GUS expression is most prominent in meristematic tissues such as root tips, lateral root primordia and the shoot apex, supporting a role for FTase in the control of the cell cycle in plants. GUS activity was also detected in mature embryos and imbibed embryos, in accordance with a role for FTase in ABA signaling that modulates seed dormancy and germination. In addition, GUS activity was detected in regions that border two organs, e.g. junctions between stems and leaf petioles, cotyledons and hypocotyls, roots and hypocotyls, and primary and secondary roots. GUS is expressed in phloem complexes that are adjacent to actively growing tissues such as young leaves, roots of light-grown seedlings, and hypocotyls of dark-grown seedlings. Both light and sugar (e.g. sucrose) treatments repressed GUS expression in dark-grown seedlings. These expression patterns suggest a potential involvement of FTase in the regulation of nutrient allocation into actively growing tissues.     

The Commelina Yellow Mottle Virus Promoter Is a Strong Promoter in Vascular Tissue of Transgenic Gossypium hirsutum Plants

Explants of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Jingmian 7) were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith et Townsend ) Conn LBA4404 harboring an expression cassette composed of CoYMV (Commelina Yellow Mottle Virus) promoter-gus-nos terminator on the plant expression vector pBcopd2. Transgenic plants were regenerated and selected on a medium containing kanamycin. GUS (β-glucuronidase) activity assays and Southern blot analysis confirmed that the chimerical gus gene was integrated into and expressed in the regenerated cotton plants. Plant expression vector pBI121 was also transferred into the same cotton variety and the regenerated transgenic plants were used as a positive control in GUS activity analysis. Evidences from histochemical analysis of GUS activity demonstrated that under the control of a 597 bp CoYMV promoter the gus gene was highly expressed in the vascular tissues of leaves, petioles, stems, roots, hypocotyls, bracteal leaves and most of the flower parts while GUS activity could not be detected in stigma, anther sac and developing cotton fibers of the transgenic cotton plants. GUS specific activity in various organs and tissues from transgenic cotton lines was determined and the results indicated that the CoYMV promoter-gus activities were at the same level or higher than that of CaMV 35S promoter-gus in leaf veins and roots where the vascular tissues occupy a relatively larger part of the organs, but in other organs like leaves, cotyledons and hypocotyls where the vascular tissues occupy a smaller part of the organs the CoYMV promoter-gus activity was only 1/3-1/5 of the CaMV 35S promoter-gus activity. The GUS activity ratio between veins and leaves was averaged 0.5 for 35S-GUS plants and about 2.0 for CoYMV promoter-gus transgenic plants. These results further demonstrated the vascular specific property of the promoter in transgenic cotton plants. An increasing trend of GUS activity in leaf vascular tissues of transgenic cotton plants developing from young to older was observed.     

Pollen-specific gene expression in transgenic plants: coordinate regulation of two different tomato gene promoters during microsporogenesis

To investigate the regulation of gene expression during male gametophyte development, we analyzed the promoter activity of two different genes (LAT52 and LAT59) from tomato, isolated on the basis of their anther-specific expression. In transgenic tomato, tobacco and Arabidopsis plants containing the LAT52 promoter region fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene, GUS activity was restricted to pollen. Transgenic tomato, tobacco and Arabidopsis plants containing the LAT59 promoter region fused to GUS also showed very high levels of GUS activity in pollen. However, low levels of expression of the LAT59 promoter construct were also detected in seeds and roots. With both constructs, the appearance of GUS activity in developing anthers was correlated with the onset of microspore mitosis and increased progressively until anthesis (pollen shed). Our results demonstrate co-ordinate regulation of the LAT52 and LAT59 promoters in developing microspores and suggest that the mechanisms that regulate pollen-specific gene expression are evolutionarily conserved.     

Cotton α-Globulin Promoter: Isolation and Functional Characterization in Transgenic Cotton,Arabidopsis, and Tobacco

Globulins are the most abundant seed storage proteins in cotton and, therefore, their regulatory sequences could potentially provide a good source of seed-specific promoters. We isolated the putative promoter region of cotton -globulin B gene by gene walking using the primers designed from a cotton staged embryo cDNA clone. PCR amplified fragment of 1108 bp upstream sequences was fused to gusA gene in the binary vector pBI101.3 to create the test construct. This was used to study the expression pattern of the putative promoter region in transgenic cotton, Arabidopsis, and tobacco. Histochemical GUS analysis revealed that the promoter began to express during the torpedo stage of seed development in tobacco and Arabidopsis, and during cotyledon expansion stage in cotton. The activity quickly increased until embryo maturation in all three species. Fluorometric GUS analysis showed that the promoter expression started at 12 and 15 dpa in tobacco and cotton, respectively, and increased through seed maturation. The strength of the promoter expression, as reflected by average GUS activity in the seeds from primary transgenic plants, was vastly different amongst the three species tested. In Arabidopsis, the activity was 16.7% and in tobacco it was less than 1% of the levels detected in cotton seeds. In germinating seedlings of tobacco and Arabidopsis, GUS activity diminished until it was completely absent 10 days post imbibition. In addition, absence of detectable level of GUS expression in stem, leaf, root, pollen, and floral bud of transgenic cotton confirmed that the promoter is highly seed-specific. Analysis of GUS activity at individual seed level in cotton showed a gene dose effect reflecting their homozygous or hemizygous status. Our results show that this promoter is highly tissue-specific and it can be used to control transgene expression in dicot seeds.     

Characterization of a barley gene coding for an α-amylase inhibitor subunit (CMd protein) and analysis of its promoter in transgenic tobacco plants and in maize kernels by microprojectile bombardment

A gene coding for a barley CMd protein was isolated from a genomic library using a cDNA probe encoding the wheat CM3 protein. Promoter sequence analysis reveals motifs found in genes specifically expressed in endosperm and aleurone cells, as well as TATA and other putative functional boxes. 720 bp of the Hv85.1 CMd protein gene promoter, when fused to a gus coding region, were unable to direct GUS activity in the seeds of transgenic tobacco plants. In contrast, the same construction delivered into immature maize kernels by microprojectile bombardment was able to direct expression of GUS in the outermost cell layers of maize endosperm in both a tissue-specific and a developmentally determined manner.     

Functional Characterization of the Tau Class Glutathione-S-Transferases Gene (SbGSTU) Promoter of Salicornia brachiata under Salinity and Osmotic Stress

Reactive oxygen or nitrogen species are generated in the plant cell during the extreme stress condition, which produces toxic compounds after reacting with the organic molecules. The glutathione-S-transferase (GST) enzymes play a significant role to detoxify these toxins and help in excretion or sequestration of them. In the present study, we have cloned 1023 bp long promoter region of tau class GST from an extreme halophyte Salicornia brachiata and functionally characterized using the transgenic approach in tobacco. Computational analysis revealed the presence of abiotic stress responsive cis-elements like ABRE, MYB, MYC, GATA, GT1 etc., phytohormones, pathogen and wound responsive motifs. Three 5’-deletion constructs of 730 (GP2), 509 (GP3) and 348 bp (GP4) were made from 1023 (GP1) promoter fragment and used for tobacco transformation. The single event transgenic plants showed notable GUS reporter protein expression in the leaf tissues of control as well as treated plants. The expression level of the GUS gradually decreases from GP1 to GP4 in leaf tissues, whereas the highest level of expression was detected with the GP2 construct in root and stem under control condition. The GUS expression was found higher in leaves and stems of salinity or osmotic stress treated transgenic plants than that of the control plants, but, lower in roots. An efficient expression level of GUS in transgenic plants suggests that this promoter can be used for both constitutive as well as stress inducible expression of gene(s). And this property, make it as a potential candidate to be used as an alternative promoter for crop genetic engineering.     

花生小GTP结合蛋白基因AhRabG3f启动子的盐胁迫响应元件分析

为研究花生小GTP结合蛋白基因AhRabG3f对盐胁迫响应的分子机制,文中克隆了花生AhRabG3f基因起始密码子上游1 914 bp的启动子片段(3f-P)。将该启动子5''末端截短获得5个片段(3f-P1-3f-P5),长度分别为1 729、1 379、666、510、179 bp。构建了将这6个启动子片段与gus基因融合的植物表达载体,利用农杆菌介导法转化烟草。对转基因烟草进行GUS表达分析和酶活性检测,结果表明,在转入各启动子片段的烟草中,都能检测到gus基因的表达,其中全长启动子3f-P的驱动活性最弱,而截短片段3f-P3的驱动活性最强。对转基因烟草进行盐胁迫处理后,3f-P、3f-P1、3f-P2和3f-P3所驱动GUS酶活性是未经盐诱导的3.3、1.2、1.9、1.2倍,表明AhRabG3f启动子是盐诱导型的,在3f-P至3f-P3之间可能存在对盐响应的正调控元件。通过对盐胁迫处理后各启动子片段驱动的GUS活性分析,推测在AhRabG3f启动子上游1 930–1 745 bp、682–526 bp之间存在可能对盐响应的正调控元件MYB、GT1和富含TC的重复序列,1 395–682 bp之间存在可能对盐响应的负调控元件MYC。研究结果可为利用诱导型启动子调控花生的耐盐性提供指导。     

香蕉束顶病毒DNA组分2、3的启动子区的组织特异性分析

香蕉束顶病毒（BBTV）基因组至少由6个大小约为1.0-1.1kb的单链环状DNA组分所组成,每一个DNA组分包含编码区与非编码区。本文在前人的研究基础上进一步了解BBTV DNA组分启动子的功能。首先根据BBTV 海南分离物的全序列,通过常规PCR扩增出长为540bp的 BBTV DNA3组分启动子序列BV3.1,同时通过重叠PCR扩增出646bp的DNA2与DNA3组分非编码区拼接的重组启动子序列BV23,分别替代pBI121 35S启动子序列与gus基因进行融合,构建植物表达载体pBIBV3.1、pBIBV23。农杆菌介导转化获得的pBIBV3.1转基因烟草经GUS化学组织染色后,在其叶片的叶脉处检测到微弱的GUS活性,证实了DNA3组分的韧皮部特异表达活性;而pBIBV23转基因烟草,其叶片经GUS组织化学染色后,在叶肉、叶缘及一些叶脉上检测到弱GUS活性,这表明由BV23驱动的gus基因在烟草中类似于组成型表达,则DNA2组分转录方式可能有异于DNA3组分。     

Isolation and Characterization of a Curcin Promoter from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Jatropha curcas</Emphasis> L. and Its Regulation of Gene Expression in Transgenic Tobacco Plants

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) represent those proteins that universally depurinate conserved α-sarcin loops of large rRNAs. In this study, a 0.6-kb fragment of a 5′ flanking region preceding a curcin gene, encoding a type I RIP curcin, of Jatropha curcas L. endosperm was cloned, and its regulation of expression of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene was investigated in transgenic tobacco. Analysis of GUS activities showed that the 0.6-kb flanking fragment of the curcin gene was sufficient to drive the GUS reporter gene expression in tobacco seed. The activity of this flanking fragment was analyzed at different stages of seed development. Histochemical localization of GUS activity indicated that the promoter was specifically active in the endosperm tissue of the dicotyledonous tobacco embryo. Moreover, this activity was first initiated at the heart-shaped embryonic stage during seed development.