Regulation of expression of the cucumber isocitrate lyase gene in cotyledons upon seed germination and by sucrose

A 6.5 kb cucumber genomic DNA fragment containing the icl gene was introduced into Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and shown to direct isocitrate lyase (ICL) mRNA synthesis in transgenic seedlings upon germination, in a temporally regulated manner. Two putative icl promoter fragments, of 2900 and 572 bp, were subsequently linked to the GUS reporter gene and introduced into N. plumbaginifolia. Both constructs directed GUS expression after transgenic seed germination, and although the 572 bp fragment gave only 1% of the activity of the 2900 bp fragment, it directed expression in the same cotyledon-specific and temporally regulated pattern. Seedlings were transferred to darkness after 18 days growth in the light, to induce a starvation response. The 2900 bp construct was activated by starvation and repressed by exogenous sucrose, whereas the 572 bp construct was not starvation-responsive. To localize the region of the 2900 bp promoter fragment which is responsible for regulation by sucrose, further deletions were make, linked to GUS, and assayed in a cucumber protoplast transient assay system. Constructs with promoters of 2900, 2142 and 1663 bp were activated by starvation and repressed by sucrose, but promoters of 1142 and 572 bp showed no such response. We conclude that the icl gene promoter contains at least two distinct cis-acting elements, one required for the response to sucrose and the other which participates in expression upon seed germination.     

水稻OsGSTL1启动子的分离和表达分析

从水稻基因组文库中筛选得到一个水稻GST基因,命名为OsGSTL1.半定量RT-PCR分析表明OsGSTL1基因的表达不受绿磺隆、乙烯利、脱落酸、水杨酸和茉莉酸甲酯的诱导,因此该基因可能与植物抗逆性无关.为了研究OsGSTL1启动子在植物体内的表达特性,将OsGSTL1起始位点5＇端上游不同长度的调控序列与报告基因GUS融合,并在洋葱表皮瞬间表达和拟南芥中稳定表达.研究表明：在洋葱表皮细胞中,160bp及更长的上游调控序列均能启动GUS基因的表达;而在转基因拟南芥中,含有2155 bp的上游序列的PGZ2.1：：GUS具有时空表达的特性,在转基因的早期幼苗中GUS基因在子叶中特异性表达,但在根中没有表达;而在幼苗生长的后期,根、茎、叶中都有少量的表达.但包含1 224 bp的上游序列的PGZ1.2：：GUS却表现为组成型表达的特性.由此推测,OsGSTL1启动子启动的基因表达可能与幼苗的营养代谢相关;而OsGSTL1启动子的时空表达相关元件可能位于OsGSTL1翻译起始位点5＇端上游-2155 bp至-1224 bp范围内.     

Introduction and expression of foreign DNA in isolated spinach chloroplasts by electroporation

An electroporation-mediated method for the study of foreign gene expression within chloroplasts has been developed. The chloroplast expression vector pHD203-GUS, which consists of coding regions for β-glucuronidase (GUS) and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) separated by a double psbA promoter fragment from pea (in opposite orientation) was electroporated into spinach chloroplasts and the transient gene expression was examined. Conditions for the expression of the reporter genes have been optimized. Both CAT and GUS activities were detected in chloroplasts electroporated with pHD203-GUS, but not with nuclear expression vector pBI221 or negative control pUC18. No GUS activity was detected when pHD203-GUS was electroporated into spinach protoplasts. Dot immunoblot analysis using anti-GUS antibody confirmed the existence of GUS protein in chloroplasts electroporated with chloroplast-specific vector but not the negative controls, excluding the possibilities of endogenous GUS or bacterial contamination. The expression of GUS protein in treated chloroplasts was further confirmed by Western blot analysis.     

Cloning and characterization of the tomato karyopherin alpha1 gene promoter

The karyopherin alpha1 (LeKAPalpha 1) gene of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) encodes a receptor involved in nuclear import. To analyze the expression pattern of this gene, a genomic clone containing its upstream region was isolated and sequenced. To study the promoter functionality, a 2170 bp fragment (LM1), was fused to glucuronidase (GUS) and introduced into petunia cells by particle bombardment. For further characterization of the promoter, one inverse and three deletion constructs were studied in cell suspension. To follow its expression in tobacco leaves, transgenic plants expressing GUS under the control of the LM1 promoter were made. Expression of LM1-GUS was largely restricted to actively growing leaf regions, suggesting possible involvement of active cell division and plant growth regulators in LeKAPalpha 1 expression.     

Metabolic regulation of α-amylase gene expression in transgenic cell cultures of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Expression of two genes in the -amylase gene family is controlled by metabolic regulation in rice cultured cells. The levels of RAmy3D and RAmy3E mRNAs in rice cultured cells are inversely related to the concentration of sugar in the culture medium. Other genes in the rice -amylase gene family have little or no expression in cultured cells; these expression levels are not controlled by metabolic regulation. A RAmy3D promoter/GUS gene fusion was metabolically regulated in the transgenic rice cell line 3DG, just as the endogenous RAmy3D gene is regulated. An assay of GUS enzyme activity in 3DG cells demonstrated that RAmy3D/GUS expression is repressed when sugar is present in the culture medium and induced when sugar is removed from the medium. The 942 bp fragment of the RAmy3D promoter that was linked to the coding region of the GUS reporter gene thus contains all of the regulatory sequences necessary for metabolic regulation of the gene.     

Characterization of an expansin gene and its ripening-specific promoter fragments from sour cherry (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Prunus cerasus</Emphasis> L.) cultivars

The presence of expansins was investigated in various developmental and ripening stages of cherry fruits by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. An expansin gene and three fragments (242, 607 and 929 bp) of its promoter region were cloned. The genomic clone of the expansin gene contained three introns, two exons spanning a 1.6 and a 1.0 kb upstream region. Semi-quantitative PCR analysis showed that this gene was ripening specific. Chimeric promoter—GUS constructs were made and truncated forms of the expansin promoter were introduced into tomatoes by agroinjection and fruits were analyzed for GUS expression by histochemical GUS staining and enzyme activity assays. The 0.60 kb expansin promoter efficiently induced GUS expression in transgenic tomatoes, whereas constructs with the 0.25 kb promoter did not display significant GUS staining. The highest GUS activity was detected in tomatoes containing the 1.0 kb promoter construct. Both large base pair promoter constructs drove the expression of the GUS gene at an equal or higher rate than the tomato E8 promoter.     

Regulation of BN115, a low-temperature-responsive gene from winter Brassica napus.

The genomic clone for BN115, a low-temperature-responsive gene, was isolated from winter Brassica napus and its sequence was determined. A 1.2-kb fragment of the 5' regulatory region (from bp -1107 to +100) was fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and BN115-promoted GUS expression was observed in green tissues of transgenic B. napus plants only after incubation at 2 degrees C. No expression was observed after incubation at 22 degrees C, either in the presence or the absence of ABA. Microprojectile bombardment of winter B. napus leaves with a BN115 promoter/GUS construct yielded similar results and was used to analyze a series of deletions from the 5' end of the promoter. Results obtained from transient expression studies showed that the low-temperature regulation of BN115 expression involves a possible enhancer region between bp -1107 and -802 and a second positive regulatory region located between bp -302 and -274. Deletion analyses and results from replacement with a truncated cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter suggest that the minimal size required for any maintenance of low-temperature GUS expression is a -300-bp fragment. Within this fragment are two 8-bp elements with the sequence TGGCCGAC, which are identical to those present in the positive regulatory region of the promoter of the homologous Arabidopsis cor15a gene and to a 5-bp core sequence in the low-temperature- and dehydration-responsive elements identified in the promoter regions of several cold-responsive Arabidopsis thaliana genes.     

The effects of promoter on transient expression in conifer cell lines

Summary Protoplasts from suspension cultures of somatic embryos of white spruce (Picea glauca Moench Voss) were electroporated with plasmids containing the chimeric genes for chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) or -glucuronidase (GUS), under control of one of three promoters. Transient CAT gene expression of approximately equal magnitude resulted when the CAT gene was fused to either the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter or the nopaline synthase (NOS) promoter. When the CAT gene was fused to a tandem repeat CaMV 35S promoter (pPBI-363), CAT enzyme activity compared to NOS or 35S promoters increased up to eightfold (cell line WS-34), and were up to 100-fold greater than control (electroporated without plasmid). Comparatively, protoplasts of black spruce (Picea mariana Mill) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), electroporated with pPBI-363, produced increases in CAT activity compared to control of 90-fold and 70-fold, respectively. White spruce (WS-34) protoplasts were subsequently electroporated with the GUS gene fused to the tandem repeat CaMV 35S promoter. Comparatively, GUS enzyme activity increased up to tenfold compared to GUS fused to a CaMV 35S promoter. The results indicated that transient expression of the CAT and GUS genes was influenced by the type of promoter and cell line used, as well as by electroporation conditions.NRCC No. 30498     

Carbon Catabolite Repression Regulates Glyoxylate Cycle Gene Expression in Cucumber

We have previously proposed that metabolic status is important in the regulation of cucumber malate synthase (MS) and isocitrate lyase (ICL) gene expression during plant development. In this article, we used a cell culture system to demonstrate that intracellular metabolic status does influence expression of both of these genes. Starvation of cucumber cell cultures resulted in the coordinate induction of the expression of MS and ICL genes, and this effect was reversed when sucrose was returned to the culture media. The induction of gene expression was closely correlated with a drop in intracellular sucrose, glucose, and fructose below threshold concentrations, but it was not correlated with a decrease in respiration rate. Glucose, fructose, or raffinose in the culture media also resulted in repression of MS and ICL. Both 2-deoxyglucose and mannose, which are phosphorylated by hexokinase but not further metabolized, specifically repressed MS and ICL gene expression relative to a third glyoxylate cycle gene, malate dehydrogenase. However, the addition of 3-methylglucose, an analog of glucose that is not phosphorylated, did not result in repression of either MS or ICL. It is proposed that the signal giving rise to a change in gene expression originates from the intracellular concentration of hexose sugars or the flux of hexose sugars into glycolysis.     

水稻OsWTF1基因启动子的克隆与表达分析

目的：分析水稻OsWTF1基因启动子的功能及核心序列。方法：利用PCR技术从水稻日本晴基因组中克隆了转录因子WTF1编码区5上游大小为2049bp的调控区域,命名为OsWTF1,将它和长度为1631、608、474、415bp的5端缺失体分别与GUS基因融合构建表达载体,并用农杆菌介导法转化水稻。结果：GUS组织化学分析表明,OsWTF1、Os1631能够驱动GUS基因在根、茎、叶、叶鞘、花药、颖壳上的表达,Os608,Os474,Os415能驱动GUS在根、茎、花药、颖壳中表达,在叶鞘中未表达,而且在叶中的表达也很微弱。结论：OsWTF1启动子核心序列可能位于-1bp--415bp之间,在-608bp--1631bp之间可能存在与基因叶肉特异表达相关的重要元件。