The plant vesicular transport engineering for production of useful recombinant proteins

The molecular breeding of plants that have been genetically engineered for improved disease resistance and stress tolerance has been undertaken with the goal of improving food production. More recently, it has been realized that transgenic plants can serve as bioreactors for the production of proteins or compounds with industrial or clinical uses. Several different recombinant enzymes and antibodies have been produced in this manner. To maximize the potential of industrial plants as a production system for proteins, efficient expression systems utilizing promoters that optimize transgene expression, 5′-untranslated region elements for efficient translation, and appropriate post-translational modifications and localization must be developed. This review summarizes successful examples of the production of recombinant enzymes, antibodies, and vaccines using signal peptides that direct vesicular localization in transgenic plants. We further discuss the modulation of recombinant protein localization to the endoplasmic reticulum, vacuolar system, or extracellular compartments by varying the signal peptide.     

非生物胁迫相关NAC转录因子的结构及功能

NAC是植物特有的一类转录因子,参与植物多个生长发育过程,还参与植物对逆境胁迫的响应。本文对非生物胁迫相关NAC转录因子的结构特征、功能预测、表达特性、在转基因植物中的作用及调控路径进行综述。非生物胁迫相关NAC转录因子具有典型的NAc胁迫亚家族结构特征,根据这些结构特征可以预测其功能;非生物胁迫相关NAc转录因子能响应多种非生物胁迫,其转基因过表达大多能使转基因植物提高一种或几种胁迫耐受性;非生物胁迫相关NAc转录因子有着复杂的调控路径。这些NAc转录因子可用于提高转基因植物的逆境耐受性。     

Overexpression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thellungiella halophila</Emphasis> H<Superscript>+</Superscript>-PPase (<Emphasis Type="Italic">TsVP</Emphasis>) in cotton enhances drought stress resistance of plants

An H⁺-PPase gene, TsVP from Thellungiella halophila, was transferred into two cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) varieties (Lumianyan19 and Lumianyan 21) and southern and northern blotting analysis showed the foreign gene was integrated into the cotton genome and expressed. The measurement of isolated vacuolar membrane vesicles demonstrated that the transgenic plants had higher V–H⁺-PPase activity compared with wild-type plants (WT). Overexpressing TsVP in cotton improved shoot and root growth, and transgenic plants were much more resistant to osmotic/drought stress than the WT. Under drought stress conditions, transgenic plants had higher chlorophyll content, improved photosynthesis, higher relative water content of leaves and less cell membrane damage than WT. We ascribe these properties to improved root development and the lower solute potential resulting from higher solute content such as soluble sugars and free amino acids in the transgenic plants. In this study, the average seed cotton yields of transgenic plants from Lumianyan 19 and Lumianyan 21 were significantly increased compared with those of WT after exposing to drought stress for 21 days at flowering stage. The average seed cotton yields were 51 and 40% higher than in their WT counterparts, respectively. This study benefits efforts to improve cotton yields in arid and semiarid regions.     

Generation of selectable marker-free transgenic tomato resistant to drought, cold and oxidative stress using the Cre/loxP DNA excision system

The aim of this research was to generate selectable marker-free transgenic tomato plants with improved tolerance to abiotic stress. An estradiol-induced site-specific DNA excision of a selectable marker gene using the Cre/loxP DNA recombination system was employed to develop transgenic tomato constitutively expressing AtIpk2β, an inositol polyphosphate 6-/3-kinase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic tomato plants containing a selectable marker were also produced as controls. The expression of AtIpk2β conferred improved resistance to drought, cold and oxidative stress in both sets of transgenic tomato plants. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using this Cre/loxP-based marker elimination strategy to generate marker-free transgenic crops with improved stress tolerance.     

Over-expression of Osmotin Induces Proline Accumulation and Confers Tolerance to Osmotic Stress in Transgenic Tobacco

Osmotin has been implicated in conferring tolerance to drought and salt stress in plants. We have over-expressed the osmotin gene under the control of constitutive CaMV 35S promoter in transgenic tobacco, and studied involvement of the protein in imparting tolerance to salinity and drought stress. The transgenic plants exhibited retarded leaf senescence and improved germination on a medium containing 200mM NaCl. Further, the transgenics maintained higher leaf relative water content (RWC), leaf photosynthesis and free proline content than the wild type plants during water stress and after recovery from stress. When subjected to salt stress (200mM NaCl), the transgenic plants accumulated significantly more proline than the wild type plants. These results suggest the involvement of the osmotin-induced increase in proline in imparting tolerance to salinity and drought stress in transgenic plants over-expressing the osmotin gene.     

甘菊DlNAC1转录因子基因提高烟草耐高温能力

研究针对从甘菊中克隆获得的DlNAC1基因（GenBank登录号为EF602305）进行生物信息学分析,并利用根癌农杆菌介导的叶盘转化法将该基因在烟草中进行过表达研究。结果发现DlNAC1蛋白具有较高亲水性,二级结构中占比最高的为无规则卷曲,并具有N糖基化位点等6类潜在的模体结构和典型的由一个扭曲的反平行β片层和α螺旋组成的NAC结构域。将DlNAC1基因在烟草中过表达后,通过PCR方法从55株转化植株中鉴定出36株为阳性植株,并且转基因烟草T₀代植株在45℃高温胁迫后,转35S：DlNAC1基因阳性植株生长状况良好,而对照植株发生萎蔫,并且转基因植株叶片含水量显著高于对照植株。然而,在4℃低温胁迫后,发现转基因烟草T₁代植株没有提高耐低温能力。甘菊DlNAC1基因能够提高烟草植株耐高温能力,为今后菊花抗逆育种提供了科学依据。     

Overexpression of Rice CBS Domain Containing Protein Improves Salinity, Oxidative, and Heavy Metal Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco

We have recently identified and classified a cystathionine ??-synthase domain containing protein family in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). Based on the microarray and MPSS data, we have suggested their involvement in stress tolerance. In this study, we have characterized a rice protein of unknown function, OsCBSX4. This gene was found to be upregulated under high salinity, heavy metal, and oxidative stresses at seedling stage. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing OsCBSX4 exhibited improved tolerance toward salinity, heavy metal, and oxidative stress. This enhanced stress tolerance in transgenic plants could directly be correlated with higher accumulation of OsCBSX4 protein. Transgenic plants could grow and set seeds under continuous presence of 150?mM NaCl. The total seed yield in WT plants was reduced by 80%, while in transgenic plants, it was reduced only by 15?C17%. The transgenic plants accumulated less Na⁺, especially in seeds and maintained higher net photosynthesis rate and Fv/Fm than WT plants under NaCl stress. Transgenic seedlings also accumulated significantly less H₂O₂ as compared to WT under salinity, heavy metal, and oxidative stress. OsCBSX4 overexpressing transgenic plants exhibit higher abiotic stress tolerance than WT plants suggesting its role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants.     

杨树HDA902基因在低温胁迫应答反应中的功能

组蛋白去乙酰化酶在植物非生物胁迫应答反应中具有重要的调控作用。利用RT-PCR的方法从毛果杨中克隆了组蛋白去乙酰化酶基因HDA902。利用农杆菌介导法将其遗传转化到烟草中,并对转基因植株进行低温耐受性分析。研究结果表明,HDA902在烟草中的表达显著提高了转基因株系对低温的耐受性。叶片NBT和DAB染色结果表明,在低温处理后转基因烟草比野生型烟草产生较少的活性氧。丙二醛和脯氨酸含量测定结果表明,在低温条件下,转基因烟草叶片的脯氨酸含量显著高于野生型烟草,而丙二醛含量显著低于野生型烟草。这些研究结果表明,HDA902参与低温胁迫应答反应,其过量表达提高了植株耐低温的能力。     

Genetic engineering of the biosynthesis of glycinebetaine leads to increased tolerance of photosynthesis to salt stress in transgenic tobacco plants

Genetically engineered tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) with the ability to synthesis glycinebetaine (GB) in chloroplasts was established by introducing the BADH gene for betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). The genetic engineering resulted in enhanced tolerance of growth of young seedlings to salt stress. This increased tolerance was not due to improved water status, since there were no significant differences in accumulation of sodium and chloride, leaf water potential, and relative water content between wild type and transgenic plants under salt stress. Salt stress resulted in a decrease in CO₂ assimilation and such a decrease was much greater in wild type plants than in transgenic plants. Though salt stress showed no damage to PSII, there were a decrease in the maximal PSII electron transport rate in vivo and an increase in non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and these changes were greater in wild type plants than in transgenic plants. In addition, salt stress inhibited the activities of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, chloroplastic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase, and phosphoribulokinase and such a decrease was also greater in wild type plants than in transgenic plants, suggesting that GB protects these enzymes against salt stress. However, there were no significant changes in the activities of phosphoglycerate kinase, triose phosphate isomerase, ribulose-5-phosphate isomerase, transketolase, and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase in both wild type and transgenic plants. The results in this study suggest that enhanced tolerance of CO₂ assimilation to salt stress may be one of physiological bases for increased tolerance of growth of transgenic plants to salt stress.     

Manipulation of monoubiquitin improves salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco

Ubiquitin (Ub) is regarded as a stress protein involved in many stress responses. In this paper, sense and antisense transgenic tobacco plants, as well as the wild type and vector control, were used to study the role of Ub in salt tolerance of plants. In sense Ta-Ub2 transgenic tobacco plants, there was higher expression of Ub protein conjugates than in the wild type and vector control, but the reverse trend was observed in antisense Nt-Ub1 transgenic plants. The germination rate of tobacco seed, growth status and photosynthesis of the tobacco plants suggested that over-expressing Ub promoted the growth of transgenic tobacco plants and enhanced their salt tolerance, but the opposite effect was seen in plants with repressed Ub expression. Changes in antioxidant capacity may be one of the mechanisms underlying Ub-regulated salt tolerance. Furthermore, improved tolerance to a combination of stresses was also observed in the sense transgenic tobacco plants. These findings imply that Ub is involved in the tolerance of plants to abiotic stress.     

过表达ZmSKIP基因提高烟草抗低温胁迫的能力

以野生型和过表达ZmSKIP基因烟草为试材, 研究了低温胁迫下过表达ZmSKIP对烟草抗氧化能力的影响。测定了不同低温处理时间下过表达ZmSKIP转基因烟草T3代植株和野生型植株抗氧化酶如超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）、过氧化物酶（POD）活性和丙二醛（MDA）含量以及相对电导率, 结果表明, 低温下, 相对于野生型植株, 转基因烟草具有较高的抗氧化酶活性和较低的相对电导率和MDA含量, 说明过表达ZmSKIP提高了转基因植株的耐低温胁迫能力。     

耐盐转基因植物研究进展

高盐是限制作物生长、发育和产量的最严重的非生物胁迫之一。长期以来,改善作物的耐盐性一直是一个伟大的目标。然而,由于耐盐反应是一个极为复杂的过程,过去,通过传统的育种和遗传工程取得的成功有限。近十年来,由于分子生物学的发展,发现了一些与耐盐相关的新基因,对于这些基因的表达方式及其在耐盐反应中的作用已逐步得到了解,这为转基因工程提供了新的材料。通过控制耐盐相关基因在植物体内的表达,已获得了一些提高耐盐性的转基因植物,展示了诱人的前景,但该领域研究仍然存在许多困难和问题,文章重点讨论耐盐转基因植物的进展。     

Physiological and Growth Responses of Tomato Progenies Harboring the Betaine Alhyde Dehydrogenase Gene to Salt Stress

The responses of five transgenic tomato （Lycopersicon esculentum Mill） lines containing the betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase （BADH） gene to salt stress were evaluated. Proline, betaine （N, N, N-trimethylglycine, hereafter betalne）, chlorophyll and ion contents, BADH activity, electrolyte leakage （EL）, and some growth parameters of the plants under 1.0% and 1.5% NaCl treatments were examined. The transgenic tomatoes had enhanced BADH activity and betaine content, compared to the wild type under stress conditions. Salt stress reduced chlorophyll contents to s higher extent in the wild type than in the transgenic plants. The wild type exhibited significantly higher proline content than the transgenic plants at 0.9% and 1.3% NaCh Cell membrane of the wild type was severely damaged as determined by higher EL under salinity stress. K^＋ and Ca^2＋ contents of all tested lines decreased under salt stress, but the transgenic plants showed a significantly higher accumulation of K^＋ and Ca^2＋ than the wild type. In contrast, the wild type had significantly higher CI- and Na^2＋ contents than the transgenic plants under salt stress. Although yield reduction among various lines varied, the wild type had the highest yield reduction. Fruit quality of the transgenic plants was better in comparison with the wild type as shown by a low ratio of blossom end rot fruits. The results show that the transgenic plants have improved salt tolerance over the wild type.     

Overexpression of Tamarix albiflonum TaMnSOD increases drought tolerance in transgenic cotton

Drought is a major environmental stress that limits cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production worldwide. TaMnSOD plays a crucial role as a peroxidation scavenger. In this study, TaMnSOD cDNA of Tamarix albiflonum was overexpressed in the cotton cultivar fy11 by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. The transformed plants were assessed by gDNA PCR, RT-PCR and DNA gel blot analysis. The physiological and biochemical characters of two independent transgenic lines and control plants were tested and compared, and the morphological traits (biomass, root and lateral root length, leaf number) were also detected after recovery from water-withholding stress. When water was withheld from pot-grown 6-week-old seedlings for 18 days (watering to 8 % of field capacity), transgenic cotton plants accumulated more proline and soluble sugar than wild-type plants (WT). The activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and peroxidase was enhanced in transgenic plants under drought stress. Cell membrane integrity was also considerably improved under water stress, as indicated by reduced malondialdehyde content relative to control plants. Furthermore, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were increased in transgenic plants compared with wild type. Transgenic cotton showed increases in biomass as well as root and leaf systems compared with WT after 2 weeks recovery from stress. These results suggest that TaMnSOD transgenic cotton plants acquired improved drought tolerance through enhanced development of the root and leaf system and the regulation of superoxide scavenging.     

Transcriptome analysis and crop improvement (a review).

The identification and characterization of differential gene expression from tissues subjected to stress has gained much attention in plant research. The recognition of elements involved in the response to a particular stress enhances the possibility of promoting crop improvement through direct genetic modification. However, the performance of some of the 'first generation' of transgenic plants with the incorporation of a single gene has not always been as expected. These results have stimulated the development of new transgenic constructions introducing more than one gene and capable of modifying complex pathways. Several techniques are available to conduct the analysis of gene regulation, with such information providing the basis for novel constructs specifically designed to modify metabolism. This review deals with techniques that allow the identification and characterization of differentially-expressed genes and the use of molecular pathway information to produce transgenic plants.