Two Highly Homologous Promoters of a Squash Aspartic Protease Inhibitor (SQAPI) Multigene Family Exhibit Differential Expression in Transgenic Tobacco Phloem and Trichome Cells

Two variants of the promoter of the squash aspartic acid protease inhibitor multigene family were isolated from Cucurbita maxima cv. ‘Supermarket’ Hybrid genomic DNA. The isolated promoters, possibly not full length, comprised a 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of 202–208 bp, contained a 63-bp upstream open reading frame (uORF) and the immediate upstream sequences of 441–445 bp. The two promoters contained several small deletions relative to each other and 22 single base differences but exhibit overall 92.5% homology over 654 bp. When the promoters were fused to a β-glucuronidase reporter gene and expressed in tobacco, one variant was highly expressed in the companion cells of the inner and outer phloem of leaves and at lower levels in other organs. The other variant was expressed at high levels in the long glandular trichomes of the leaf. Deletion analysis identified a region of ~280 bp immediately upstream of the 5′-UTR containing the TATA box that was responsible for phloem specific expression and a further region of ~180 bp that enhanced expression in one promoter and conferred trichome expression in the other. Removal of the 5′-UTR, including the uORF, inactivated the phloem promoter.     

Construction of a Promoter-probe Vector for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus thuringiensis</Emphasis>: the Identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">cis</Emphasis>-acting Elements of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">chiA</Emphasis> Locus

The expression and application of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) chitinase genes have been extensively investigated. However, little information is available regarding the regulation of chitinase gene expression in Bt. In this study, a shuttle promoter-probe vector was constructed incorporating the thermostable β-galactosidase gene bgaB of B. stearothermophilus as the reporter for the study of Bt promoters. Using this plasmid, the activity of the chiA gene promoter in Bt was investigated. Deletion analysis of the putative chiA promoter region revealed that the sequence located ~75 bp DNA from positions −116 to −42, with respect to the translation start site, is the core promoter of chiA gene. Furthermore, a site for chitin induction was identified near position −36. This site for negative regulation was indicated downstream of the RNA polymerase binding sites of the promoter of chiA. The expression of chiA started in cell grown for about 6 h and reached the maximum after 60 h of incubation. Induction of chiA expression by chitin was demonstrated by an increase in β-galactosidase activity of ~2.5-fold.     

Regulated expression of heterologous genes inBacillus subtilis using the Tn10 encodedtet regulatory elements

Summary TheEscherichia coli-derivedtet regulatory elements from Tn10 have been used to construct vectors allowing the regulated, inducible, high-level expression of foreign genes inBacillus subtilis. While the wild-typetet promoters are inactive inB. subtilis, a synthetic mutanttet sequence with improved promoter consensus sequences and upstream poly A blocks shows activity inB. subtilis. The expression of an indicatorcat gene is inducible by sublethal amounts of tetracycline, indicating that the Tet repressor protein and thetet operator sequences are functional. However, the inducibility and maximal expression are not sufficient in this construct. To improve these properties atet operator sequence was placed between the —35 and —10 boxes of theB. subtilis-derived very strongxyl promoter. In the presence of atetR gene this construct is about 100-fold inducible and has high promoter strength, but some basal expression. This is avoided by placing a secondtet operator downstream resulting in no detectable basal expression at the expense of reduced inducibility. Using the system with a singletet operator inducible expression of glucose dehydrogenase fromB. megaterium was obtained at a very high level, and inducible expression of human single-chain urokinase-like plasminogen activator was achieved at the same level as inE. coli. Unlike inE. coli, the product was not degraded up to 4 h after induction inB. subtilis. These results demonstrate that the regulated expression vector described here should be very useful for production of foreign gene products fromB. subtilis cultures.     

DNA transfection in the ecdysteroid-responsive GV1 cell line from the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Summary The embryonic cell line, GV1, from Manduca sexta was transiently transfected with DNA constructs of the Drosophila hsp70 promoter fused to either a β-galactosidase (pXH70ZT) or a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (HSP-CAT-1) reporter gene using lipofectin. Optimal cell density, DNA:lipofectin ratio, and time of incubation were varied to determine the optimal conditions: 2 × 10⁵ cells/ml, 1:3, and 5 h. Under these conditions, the transfection efficiency was about 40%. Heat inducibility of two hsp70 constructs was compared. The HSP-CAT-1, containing 1127 bp of upstream sequence, was more sensitive to heat shock than that of pXH70ZT, containing only 194 bp of upstream sequence. Thus, the 1127 bp hsp70 promoter appears to be a better inducible promoter in these cells. A 2 kb fragment of the proximal promoter region of the MHR3 gene containing a putative ecdysone response element was shown to be responsive to 20-hydroxyecdysone after its transfection into these cells.     

Embryo and anther regulation of the mabinlin II sweet protein gene in Capparis masaikai Lévl

Mabinlin II is one of the major sweet proteins stored in the seeds of Capparis masaikai Lévl. Its promoter region (779 bp) located 5′ upstream of the mabinlin II gene has been isolated and named as MBL-779 (GenBank accession number, EU014073). This promoter contains two typical TATA box regions and a series of motifs related to seed-specific promoters, such as ACGT motifs, RY motif, napin motif, and G box. The MBL-779 promoter drove GUS gene to transiently express in the embryos of bean, maize, and rice seeds or to constantly express in the embryos and anthers of the transgenic Arabidopsis. The MBL-779 promoter regulated gene expression from approximately the 12th day and peaked on approximately the 16th day after flowering in Arabidopsis. The −300-bp promoter region is a minimal sequence required to functionally regulate gene expression. The CAATs at −325 to −322 bp and −419 to −416 bp and the region at −485 to −770 bp play a role in the quantitative regulation of gene expression. The RY motif, CATGAC, at −117 to −112 bp and the ACGT within the G box (CACGTG) at −126 to −123 bp positively regulate gene expression. X.-W. Hu and S.-X. Liu have the same contribution as first author.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of the promoter for the multiple stress-inducible gene <Emphasis Type="Italic">BjCHI1</Emphasis> from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica juncea</Emphasis>

We have previously isolated a Brassica juncea cDNA encoding a novel chitinase BjCHI1 with two chitin-binding domains (Zhao and Chye in Plant Mol Biol 40:1009–1018, 1999). The expression of BjCHI1 was highly inducible by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment, wounding, caterpillar feeding, and pathogenic fungal infection. These observations suggest that the promoter of BjCHI1 gene might contain specific cis-acting elements for stress responses. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of the BjCHI1 promoter. A 1,098 bp BjCHI1 genomic DNA fragment upstream of the ATG start codon was isolated by PCR walking and various constructs were made by fusing the BjCHI1 promoter or its derivatives to β-glucuronidase reporter gene. The transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed that the BjCHI1 promoter responded to wounding and MeJA treatment, and to treatments with either NaCl or polyethyleneglycol (PEG 6000), indicating that the BjCHI1 promoter responses to both biotic and abiotic stresses. A transient gene expression system of Nicotiana benthamiana leaves was adopted for promoter deletion analysis, and the results showed that a 76 bp region from −695 to −620 in the BjCHI1 promoter was necessary for MeJA-responsive expression. Furthermore, removal of a conserved T/G-box (AACGTG) at −353 to −348 of the promoter greatly reduced the induction by MeJA. This is the first T/G-box element identified in a chitinase gene promoter. Gain-of-function analysis demonstrated that the cis-acting element present in the 76 bp region requires coupling with the T/G-box to confer full magnitude of BjCHI1 induction by MeJA.     

Rapid evolution of promoters for the plastome gene <Emphasis Type="Italic">ndhF</Emphasis> in flowering plants

Plastome is thought to be a very conservative part of plant genome but little is known about the evolution of plastome promoters. It was previously shown that one light-regulated promoter (LRPpsbD) is highly conserved in different flowering plant species and in black pine. We have undertaken search and demonstrated that gene ndhF is located in a plastome region that rarely underwent substantial rearrangements in terrestrial plants. However, alignment of sequences upstream ndhF suggests that promoters of this gene underwent comparatively rapid evolution in flowering plants. Probably, the ancestor of two basal Magnoliophyta branches (magnoliids and eudicotyledons) had the promoter P_A-ndhF, which was substituted with other promoters—P_B-ndhF and P_C-ndhF—in some phylogenetic lineages of dicots. We failed to reveal conservative sequences with potential promoters of −10/−35 type upstream ndhF genes of monocotyledonous plants, including nine representatives of the grass family (Poaceae). Multiple alignments of sequences from related taxa showed that the predicted ndhF promoters (A–C) underwent frequent mutations and these mutations are not only nucleotide substitutions but also small insertions and deletions. Thus, we can assume that at least some plastome promoters evolve rapidly.     

A strong promoter, PMagpd, provides a tool for high gene expression in entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium acridum

A glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (gpd) promoter (PMagpd) was obtained from Metarhizium acridum and its active region analyzed by 5′-deletion strategy using β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter. Sequence analysis revealed that typical regulatory elements of PMagpd were included in the 1.7 kb region upstream of the start codon of the Magpd gene. Deletion of the region from −1,691 bp to −1,463 bp, where the gpd box is harbored, did not significantly affect the PMagpd activity. Deletions of the regions upstream of −946 bp and upstream of −684 bp caused a major decrease of GUS activity. Compared with PgpdA (2.2 kb) in Aspergillus nidulans, PMagpd (1.4 kb) had a shorter sequence and significantly higher activity in M. acridum. This study provides an applicable promoter for over-expression of target genes in M. acridum.     

Direct production of cadaverine from soluble starch using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corynebacterium glutamicum</Emphasis> coexpressing α-amylase and lysine decarboxylase

Here, we demonstrated the one-step production of cadaverine from starch using a Corynebacterium glutamicum strain coexpressing Streptococcus bovis 148 α-amylase (AmyA) and Escherichia coli K-12 lysine decarboxylase (CadA). We constructed the E. coli–C. glutamicum shuttle vector, which produces CadA under the control of the high constitutive expression (HCE) promoter, and transformed this vector into C. glutamicum CSS secreting AmyA. The engineered C. glutamicum expressed both CadA and AmyA, which retained their activity. We performed cadaverine fermentation using 50 g/l soluble starch as the sole carbon source without pyridoxal-5’-phosphate, which is the coenzyme for CadA. C. glutamicum coexpressing AmyA and CadA successfully produced cadaverine from soluble starch and the yield of cadaverine was 23.4 mM after 21 h. CadA expression levels under the control of the HCE promoter were assumed to be sufficient to convert l-lysine to cadaverine, as there was no accumulation of l-lysine in the culture medium during fermentation. Thus, we demonstrated that C. glutamicum has great potential to produce cadaverine from biomass resources.     

Identification of a replicon from pCC3, a cryptic plasmid from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leuconostoc citreum</Emphasis> C4 derived from kimchi,and development of a new host–vector system

Analysis of the structural properties of pCC3, a cryptic plasmid from Leuconostoc citreum C4 isolated from kimchi, determined its length as 3,338 bp and revealed three open reading frames (ORFs): ORF1–ORF3. ORF3 showed high homology with a replication initiation protein of the theta-type plasmid pTXL1. The fragment encompassing ORF3 and its upstream sequences (nt 1,299–1,634) was found to contain a functional plasmid replicon. A new shuttle vector, pUCC3E1, was constructed based on pCC3. Using Southern hybridization analysis, no single-stranded DNA intermediate was detected from Leu. citreum harboring pUCC3E1, which indicates that pCC3 replicated via the theta mechanism. The pUCC3E1 could be replicated in E. coli TG1 (5.8 × 10⁴ CFU/μg DNA) and the developed cloning hosts, Leu. citreum C16 (2.1 × 10² CFU/μg DNA) and Leu. citreum GJ7 (8.0 × 10¹ CFU/μg DNA). pUCC3E1 was stably maintained in Leu. citreum C16 (for 100 generations, ca. 94.2%) in the absence of erythromycin (5 μg/ml).     

Cloning, characterization and regulation of a protein disulfide isomerase from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

To elucidate the physiological roles and regulation of a protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the full-length PDI gene was ligated into the shuttle vector pRS316, resulting in pPDI10. The determined DNA sequence carries 1,636 bp and encodes the putative 359 amino acid sequence of PDI with a molecular mass of 39,490 Da. In the amino acid sequence, the S. pombe PDI appears to be very homologous to A. thaliana PDI. The S. pombe cells harboring pPDI10 showed increased PDI activity and accelerated growth, suggesting that the cloned PDI gene is functioning and involved in the yeast growth. The 460 bp upstream region of the PDI gene was fused into promoterless β-galactosidase gene of the shuttle vector YEp367R to generate pYUPDI10. The synthesis of β-galactosidase from the PDI–lacZ fusion gene was enhanced by oxidative stress, such as superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. It was also induced by some non-fermentable and fermentable carbon sources. Nitrogen starvation was able to enhance the synthesis of β-galactosidase from the PDI–lacZ fusion gene. The enhancement by oxidative stress and fermentable carbon sources did not depend on the presence of Pap1. The PDI mRNA levels were increased in both Pap1-positive and Pap1-negative cells treated with glycerol. Taken together, the S. pombe PDI gene is involved in cellular growth and response to nutritional and oxidative stress.     

Identification and preliminary analysis of a new PCP promoter from Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis

The promoter of Brassica campestris Male Fertile 5 (BcMF5), a pollen coat protein member, class A (PCP-A) gene family, was isolated from Brassica rapa L. ssp. chinensis Makino (Chinese cabbage-pak-choi) by Thermal Asymmetric Interlaced Polymerase Chain Reaction (TAIL-PCR). Sequence analysis suggested that the 605-bp promoter of BcMF5 appears to be a pollen promoter. In an attempt to confirm the promoter activity of BcMF5 promoter, −609 to +3 bp and −377 to +3 bp fragments of the upstream sequence of BcMF5 were inserted at the site upstream of the coding region of the uidA gene in the sense orientation to construct two deletion expression vectors. Transient expression analysis in onion epidermal cells by particle bombardment showed that both −609 to +3 bp and −377 to +3 bp fragments of BcMF5 promoter were capable of driving β-glucuronidase gene expression. Furthermore, by Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation method, Arabidopsis transgenic Kan^R plants were obtained. GUS assay analysis revealed that the promoter of BcMF5 induced gene expression at the early stage of anther development and drove high levels of GUS expression in anther walls, upper regions of petals, pollen, and pollen tubes in the middle and late stage of anther development, but did not drive any expression in sepals and pistils.     

Evaluation of heterologous promoters in transgenic Populus tremula × P. alba plants

The pattern and expression level of β-glucuronidase (gus) reporter gene regulated by six heterologous promoters were studied in transgenic Populus tremula × P. alba plants obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Binary vector constructs used contained the following promoter sequences: the CaMV35S from cauliflower mosaic virus; its duplicated version fused to the enhancer sequence from alfalfa mosaic virus; CsVMV from cassava vein mosaic virus; ubiquitin 3 from Arabidopsis thaliana (UBQ3); S-adenosyl-L-methionine synthetase (Sam-s) from soybean; and the rolA from Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Histochemical staining of root, stem and leaf tissues showed phloem and xylem-specific gus expression under rolA promoter, and constitutive expression with the other putative constitutive promoters. Quantitative GUS expression of 10 – 15 independently transformed in vitro grown plants, containing each promoter, was determined by fluorimetric GUS assays. The UBQ3-gus fusion induced the highest average expression level, although an extensive variation in expression levels was observed between independent transgenic lines for all the constructs tested.