Biolistic-mediated genetic transformation of cowpea (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vigna unguiculata</Emphasis>) and stable Mendelian inheritance of transgenes

We describe a novel system of exploiting the biolistic process to generate stable transgenic cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plants. The system is based on combining the use of the herbicide imazapyr to select transformed meristematic cells after physical introduction of the mutated ahas gene (coding for a mutated acetohydroxyacid synthase, under control of the ahas 5' regulatory sequence) and a simple tissue culture protocol. The gus gene (under control of the act2 promoter) was used as a reporter gene. The transformation frequency (defined as the total number of putative transgenic plants divided by the total number of embryonic axes bombarded) was 0.90%. Southern analyses showed the presence of both ahas and gus expression cassettes in all primary transgenic plants, and demonstrated one to three integrated copies of the transgenes into the genome. The progenies (first and second generations) of all self-fertilized transgenic lines revealed the presence of the transgenes (gus and ahas) co-segregated in a Mendelian fashion. Western blot analysis revealed that the GUS protein expressed in the transgenic plants had the same mass and isoelectric point as the bacterial native protein. This is the first report of biolistic-mediated cowpea transformation in which fertile transgenic plants transferred the foreign genes to next generations following Mendelian laws.     

Production of transgenic pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants resistant to the herbicide pursuit

Transgenic pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants containing mutant ahas/als gene were obtained using Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. Transformation has been carried out using cocultivation of pea explants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain lBA4404 carrying genetic vectors pCB004, pCB006 and pCB007 containing ahas/als and nptII genes. The presence of transferred genes in the genomes of transgenic plants has been confirmed by PCR analysis.     

Transgenic Tobacco Lines Expressing Defective CMV Replicase-Derived dsRNA Are Resistant to CMV-O and CMV-Y

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is a tripartite, positive sense RNA virus causing infections and yield losses to many plant species. Here, we generated a construct containing inverted repeat of 1,793 bp fragment of defective CMV replicase gene derived from RNA2 of cucumber mosaic virus strain O (CMV-O). The replicase gene was modified by deleting a 9 bp region between nucleotides 1909–1918. This caused a deletion in the active centre motif of polymerases, producing defective translated product 9 nucleotides shorter than the full length protein. The RNAi construct containing inverted repeat of the defective gene was used to produce transgenic tobacco lines expressing CMV-derived double-stranded RNA via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Of the four transgenic lines inoculated with CMV-O or CMV-Y in vitro and ex vivo, three lines (T1, T4 and T5) showed immunity to both strains of CMV as no symptoms were detected, whereas one line (T7) exhibited high resistance with mild symptoms limited to inoculation portions. No virus could be detected in uninoculated new leaves of the transgenic lines after RT-PCR and Dot-immunobinding assay analyses. Small interfering RNAs present in transgenic lines before and after virus challenge indicates that the resistance was acquired through RNA silencing.     

病程相关基因启动子片段与GUS的融合基因在拟南芥中的表达

PR1是拟南芥(Arabidopsisis thaliana L.)系统获得抗性的一个标志基因.利用PCR技术,从拟南芥中扩增并克隆了PR1基因的启动子片段.将该启动子片段与GUS报告基因拼接,构建成含有PR1-GUS融合基因的重组表达质粒.经根癌农杆菌介导转化,得到了转基因的拟南芥植株.用已知的系统获得抗性激活剂处理转基因植物,检测到GUS活性.因此,这一转基因体系可以作为一种简便、灵敏的实验体系以筛选激活植物系统获得抗性的化合物.     

一种安全高效大豆转化筛选体系的建立

以灭草烟作为筛选剂,利用基因枪法建立一种安全高效的大豆遗传转化体系.比较不同筛选剂对大豆胚尖外植体丛生芽诱导数目的影响.与卡那霉素、潮霉素和草胺膦等传统筛选剂相比,以灭草烟作为筛选剂可使丛生芽的数目增加1倍以上.克隆了拟南芥突变体csrl-2中突变的乙酰羟基酸合成酶基因(ahas),以其作为筛选标记基因,构建可利用灭草烟作为筛选剂的植物表达载体.利用基因枪法将该载体转化大豆,获得6棵灭草烟抗性植株,分子检测证明外源ahas基因整合到5棵转基因大豆植株的基因组中.     

Obtaining of transgenic French bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) resistant to the herbicide pursuit by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

The transgenic plants of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) resistant herbicide Pursuit and kanamycin have been obtained. The genetic transformation was carried out with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing binary vector carrying mutant ahas/als and selective nptII genes. Integration of the transgenes into plant genome was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction.     

The upstream Sal repeat-containing segment of Arabidopsis thaliana ribosomal DNA intergenic region (IGR) enhances the activity of adjacent protein-coding genes

The sequence containing 'upstream Sal repeats' (USR) from the Arabidopsis thaliana ribosomal DNA intergenic region (IGR) was tested for its influence on the in vivo activity of nearby protein coding genes. On average, the presence of the IGR fragment leads to a four-fold increase in the expression of a reporter gene, beta-glucuronidase, under control of the strong CaMV 35S promoter. With the help of the site-specific cre-lox recombination system, we have also obtained pairs of transgenic lines with or without the USR-containing fragment, both integrated at the same chromosomal position. Results with these transgenic lines, which contain an NPT II (kanamycin resistance) gene under control of the nos promoter as a test gene, confirmed the results obtained with the CaMV 35S-driven GUS gene. Moreover, they show that the IGR sequence can oppose tendencies of gene silencing. We hypothesize that the described effect relates to features of the chromatin structure in the proximity of the upstream Sal repeats.     

病程相关基因启动子片段与GUS的融合基因在拟南芥中的表达

PR1是拟南芥 (Arabidopsis thaliana L.) 系统获得抗性的一个标志基因。利用PCR技术,从拟南芥中扩增并克隆了PR1基因的启动子片段。将该启动子片段与GUS报告基因拼接,构建成含有PR1-GUS融合基因的重组表达质粒。经根癌农杆菌介导转化,得到了转基因的拟南芥植株。用已知的系统获得抗性激活剂处理转基因植物,检测到GUS活性。因此,这一转基因体系可以作为一种简便、灵敏的实验体系以筛选激活植物系统获得抗性的化合物。     

Dissection of the fusarium I2 gene cluster in tomato reveals six homologs and one active gene copy.

The I2 locus in tomato confers resistance to race 2 of the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f sp lycopersici. The selective restriction fragment amplification (AFLP) positional cloning strategy was used to identify I2 in the tomato genome. A yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clone covering approximately 750 kb encompassing the I2 locus was isolated, and the AFLP technique was used to derive tightly linked AFLP markers from this YAC clone. Genetic complementation analysis in transgenic R1 plants using a set of overlapping cosmids covering the I2 locus revealed three cosmids giving full resistance to F. o. lycopersici race 2. These cosmids shared a 7-kb DNA fragment containing an open reading frame encoding a protein with similarity to the nucleotide binding site leucine-rich repeat family of resistance genes. At the I2 locus, we identified six additional homologs that included the recently identified I2C-1 and I2C-2 genes. However, cosmids containing the I2C-1 or I2C-2 gene could not confer resistance to plants, indicating that these members are not the functional resistance genes. Alignments between the various members of the I2 gene family revealed two significant variable regions within the leucine-rich repeat region. They consisted of deletions or duplications of one or more leucine-rich repeats. We propose that one or both of these leucine-rich repeats are involved in Fusarium wilt resistance with I2 specificity.     

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。     

Strategies to improve the insecticidal activity of Cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis

Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins have been widely used in the control of insect pests either as spray products or expressed in transgenic crops. These proteins are pore-forming toxins with a complex mechanism of action that involves the sequential interaction with several toxin-receptors. Cry toxins are specific against susceptible larvae and although they are often highly effective, some insect pests are not affected by them or show low susceptibility. In addition, the development of resistance threatens their effectiveness, so strategies to cope with all these problems are necessary. In this review we will discuss and compare the different strategies that have been used to improve insecticidal activity of Cry toxins. The activity of Cry toxins can be enhanced by using additional proteins in the bioassay like serine protease inhibitors, chitinases, Cyt toxins, or a fragment of cadherin receptor containing a toxin-binding site. On the other hand, different modifications performed in the toxin gene such as site-directed mutagenesis, introduction of cleavage sites in specific regions of the protein, and deletion of small fragments from the amino-terminal region lead to improved toxicity or overcome resistance, representing interesting alternatives for insect pest control.     

Human CD2 3'-flanking sequences confer high-level, T cell-specific, position-independent gene expression in transgenic mice

We have localized a set of T cell-specific DNAase I hypersensitive sites in the 3'-flanking region of the human CD2 gene. A 5.5 kb BamHI-XbaI fragment containing these DNAase I hypersensitive sites conferred efficient, copy number-dependent, T cell-specific expression of a linked human CD2 minigene, independent of the position of integration in the transgenic mouse genome. When linked to the mouse Thy-1.1 gene or the human beta-globin gene, this fragment conferred the same T cell-specific expression, independent of its orientation. These results suggest that this flanking region is both necessary and sufficient for full tissue-specific activation of homologous and heterologous genes in transgenic mice.     

草酸氧化酶基因转化烟草的研究

为研究草酸氧化酶基因(OxO)对植物抗病的作用,将含有CaMV 35s启动子的植物表达载体以根癌农杆菌(Agrobacterium tumefaciens)介导的叶盘方法,转化了烟草97131。具有卡那霉素抗性的再生植株经PCR检测,得到了与阳性对照一致的470bp的片段,进一步对PCR产物测序表明OxO基因已整合进烟草基因组中。在对草酸的耐受性实验中,转基因烟草对草酸的抗性明显高于未转化烟草。     

Identification and Transgenic Analysis of a Murine Promoter that Targets Cholinergic Neuron Expression

Abstract : Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) is a specific phenotypic marker of cholinergic neurons. Previous reports showed that different upstream regions of the ChAT gene are necessary for cell type-specific expression of reporter genes in cholinergic cell lines. The identity of the mouse ChAT promoter region controlling the establishment, maintenance, and plasticity of the cholinergic phenotype in vivo is not known. We characterized a promoter region of the mouse ChAT gene in transgenic mice, using β-galactosidase ( LacZ ) as a reporter gene. A 3,402-bp segment from the 5'-untranslated region of the mouse ChAT gene (from -3,356 to +46, +1 being the translation initiation site) was sufficient to direct the expression of LacZ to selected neurons of the nervous system ; however, it did not provide complete cholinergic specificity. A larger fragment (6,417 bp, from -6,371 to +46) of this region contains the requisite regulatory elements that restrict expression of the LacZ reporter gene only in cholinergic neurons of transgenic mice. This 6.4-kb DNA fragment encompasses 633 bp of the 5'-flanking region of the mouse vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), the entire open reading frame of the VAChT gene, contained within the first intron of the ChAT gene, and sequences upstream of the start coding sequences of the ChAT gene. This promoter will allow targeting of specific gene products to cholinergic neurons to evaluate the mechanisms of diseases characterized by dysfunction of cholinergic neurons and will be valuable in design strategies to correct those disorders.     

A plant transformation vector with a minimal T-DNA II. Irregular integration patterns of the T-DNA in the plant genome

A minimal T-DNA binary vector was used for Agrobacterium-mediated transfer of a chimeric T4 lysozyme gene located next to the left border, and transgenic potato plants which expressed T4 lysozyme protein were identified and further analysed. Frequent rearrangements of T4 lysozyme transgenes were detected. A vector derivative containing two matrix associated regions (MARs) flanking its multiple cloning site was constructed. In transgenic potato plants, reduced variability in gene expression due to position effects was detected. When either the donor vector contained MAR sequences, or when vector pPCV701 which contains a pBR322 fragment next to the left border were used, only relatively few rearrangements were observed. However, when the T4 lysozyme gene was driven by a CaMV 35S promoter modified by multiplied enhancer region carrying either 2 or 4 elements, frequent rearrangements were again obtained.