Impaired growth in transgenic plants over-expressing an expansin isoform

Expansins are cell wall proteins characterised by their ability to stimulate wall loosening during cell expansion. The expression of some expansin isoforms is clearly correlated with growth and the external application of expansins can stimulate cell expansion in vivo in several systems. We report here the expression of a heterologous expansin coding sequence in transgenic tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) under the control of a constitutive promoter. In some transgenic lines with high levels of expansin activity extractable from cell walls, we observed alterations of growth: mature plants were stunted, with shorter leaves and internodes, and dark-grown seedlings had shorter and wider hypocotyls than their wild-type counterparts. Examination of hypocotyl sections revealed similar differences at the cellular level: cortical and epidermal cells were shorter and wider than those from wild-type seedlings. The observed stimulation of radial expansion did not compensate for the decreased elongation, and overall growth was reduced in the transgenics. As this observation can seem paradoxical given the known effect of expansins on isolated cell walls, we examined the mechanical behaviour of transgenic tissue. We measured a decrease in hypocotyl elongation in response to acidic pH in the transformants. This result may account for the alterations in cell expansion, and could itself be explained by a reduced susceptibility of transgenic cell walls to expansin action.     

Regulation of root hair initiation and expansin gene expression in Arabidopsis

The expression of two Arabidopsis expansin genes (AtEXP7 and AtEXP18) is tightly linked to root hair initiation; thus, the regulation of these genes was studied to elucidate how developmental, hormonal, and environmental factors orchestrate root hair formation. Exogenous ethylene and auxin, as well as separation of the root from the medium, stimulated root hair formation and the expression of these expansin genes. The effects of exogenous auxin and root separation on root hair formation required the ethylene signaling pathway. By contrast, blocking the endogenous ethylene pathway, either by genetic mutations or by a chemical inhibitor, did not affect normal root hair formation and expansin gene expression. These results indicate that the normal developmental pathway for root hair formation (i.e., not induced by external stimuli) is independent of the ethylene pathway. Promoter analyses of the expansin genes show that the same promoter elements that determine cell specificity also determine inducibility by ethylene, auxin, and root separation. Our study suggests that two distinctive signaling pathways, one developmental and the other environmental/hormonal, converge to modulate the initiation of the root hair and the expression of its specific expansin gene set.     

Regulation of expression of a wound-inducible tomato inhibitor I gene in transgenic nightshade plants

A wound-inducible proteinase Inhibitor I gene from tomato containing 725 bp of the 5 region and 2.5 kbp of the 3 region was stably incorporated into the genome of black nightshade plants (Solanum nigrum) using an Agrobacterium Ti plasmid-derived vector. Transgenic nightshade plants were selected that expressed the tomato Inhibitor I protein in leaf tissue. The leaves of the plants contained constitutive levels of the inhibitor protein of up to 60 g/g tissue. These levels increased by a factor of about two in response to severe wounding. Only leaves and petioles exhibited the presence of the inhibitor, indicating that the gene exhibited the same tissue specificity of expression found in situ in wounded tomato leaves. Inhibitor I was extracted from leaves of wounded transformed nightshade plants and was partially purified by affinity chromatography on a chymotrypsin-Sepharose column. The affinity-purified protein was identical to the native tomato Inhibitor I in its immunological reactivity and in its inhibitory activity against chymotrypsin. The protein exhibited the same M _r of 8 kDa as the native tomato Inhibitor I and its N-terminal amino acid sequence was identical to that of the native tomato inhibitor I, indicating that the protein was properly processed in nightshade plants. These expriments are the first report of the expression of a member of the wound-inducible tomato Inhibitor I gene family in transgenic plants. The results demonstrate that the gene contains elements that can be regulated in a wound-inducible, tissuespecific manner in nightshade plants.     

Efficient regeneration of transgenic plants from rice protoplasts and correctly regulated expression of the foreign gene in the plants

Summary Rice is one of the most important crops in the world with 35% of the total population (over two billion people) depending on it as their source of food. It is therefore essential to develop efficient methods for the transformation and regeneration of rice plants in order to delineate the exact regulatory sequences responsible for gene expression and to transfer beneficial genes into this plant. Here, for the first time, we present definitive evidence for the regeneration of a large number of transgenic rice plants after introduction of the bacterial -glucuronidase gene into rice protoplasts. The presence of integrated copies of this gene was detected in the genome of transgenic plants by DNA hybridization analysis. Furthermore, under the control of regulatory regions from a maize alcohol dehydrogenase sequence, -glucuronidase gene expression was detected in the roots of transgenic plants. This expression was stimulated up to six fold under anaerobic conditions.     

Expression of CaMV35S-GUS gene in transgenic rice plants

Summary To understand the properties of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter in a monocotyledonous plant, rice (Oryza sativa L.), a transgenic plant and its progeny expressing the CaMV35S-GUS gene were examined by histochemical and fluorometric assays. The histochemical study showed that -glucuronidase (GUS) activity was primarily localized at or around the vascular tissue in leaf, root and flower organs. The activity was also detected in the embryo and endosperm of dormant and germinating seeds. The fluorometric assay of various organs showed that GUS activity in transgenic rice plants was comparable to the reported GUS activity in transgenic tobacco plants expressing the CaMV35S-GUS gene. The results indicate that the level of expression of the CaMV 35S promoter in rice is similar to that in tobacco, a dicotyledonous plant, suggesting that it is useful for expression of a variety of foreign genes in rice plants.     

水稻扩展蛋白家族的生物信息学分析

扩展蛋白是植物细胞壁的重要组成部分,具有松驰细胞壁和增加细胞壁柔韧性的作用,在植物的生长发育及抗性等方面起到重要的作用。水稻的全基因组序列统计分析显示,水稻扩展蛋白基因家族包含58个成员,分属于A(34)、B(19)、LA(4)和LB(1)4个亚家族,分布在水稻10条染色体上的58个位点,且同一亚家族成员有成簇存在的现象。扩展蛋白基因长度范围为687~1128 bp,编码蛋白质具有保守的结构域,以及保守的半胱氨酸和色氨酸残基。多数情况下,亚家族成员之间的氨基酸一致率小于35%,而同一亚家族成员之间的氨基酸一致率大于35%。在内含子、外显子组成模式上,水稻扩展蛋白呈现明显的亚家族特异性,除个别基因以外,A类基因含有1或2个内含子,B类含有3个内含子,LA和LB类含有4个内含子。密码子使用统计显示,与其他物种相比,水稻中的扩展蛋白具有更多的密码子使用偏好性,有26个高频密码子存在。研究结果展示了水稻扩展蛋白基因家族的基本信息,为深入研究扩展蛋白基因的功能、探讨物种间的进化关系奠定基础。     

Synthesis and expression of the gene for human epidermal growth factor in transgenic potato plants

Summary The gene for human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) was chemically synthesized and used for expression in transgenic potato. The hEGF coding sequence was modified by PCR to introduce ATG start codon and fused either to the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promoter or to the patatin class I promoter. The highest hEGF peptide content, 120 pg/mg soluble protein, was found in potato tubers when the chimeric gene was expressed under the control of patatin promoter.     

Non-systemic expression of a stress-responsive maize polyubiquitin gene (Ubi-1) in transgenic rice plants

We have used the promoter, 1st exon and 1st intron of the maize polyubiquitin gene (Ubi-1) for rice transformation experiments and revealed the characteristic expression of Ubi-1 gene: (1) Ubi-1 gene is not regulated systemically but rather individual cells respond independently to the heat or physical stress; (2) Ubi-1 gene changes its tissue-specific expression in response to stress treatment; (3) the expression of Ubi-1 gene is dependent on cell cycle.     

转基因植物中报告基因gus的表达及其安全性评价

近十年来,植物转基因技术取得显著进展,许多转基因植物不断问世,其中报告基因ｇｕｓ在植物基因工程和遗传转化中发挥着重要的作用。本文就ｇｕｓ基因的来源、在转基因植物中的表达及其生态风险性与食品安全性作了简要综述。     

Variability of organ-specific gene expression in transgenic tobacco plants

Variability of expression of introduced marker genes was analysed in a large number of tobacco regenerants from anAgrobacterium-mediated transformation. In spite of standardization of sampling, considerable variation of GUS and NPTII expression was observed between individual transformants at different times of analysis and in different parts of the same plant. Organ-specificity of root versus leaf expression conferred by the par promoter from the haemoglobin gene ofParasponia andersonii in front of thegus gene showed a continuous spectrum. GUS expression in roots was found in 128 out of 140 plants; expression in leaves was found in 46 plants, and was always lower than in the corresponding roots. NPTII expression regulated by the nos promoter also showed a continuous spectrum. Expression levels were generally higher in roots than in leaves. Plants with high GUS expression in leaves showed high NPTII activity as well. A positive correlation between the level of NPTII expression and the numbers of integrated gene copies was noted. Chromosomal position effects and physiological determination are suggested as triggers for the variations. The transformed regenerated tobacco plants were largely comparable to clonal variants.     

Native polyubiquitin promoter of rice provides increased constitutive expression in stable transgenic rice plants

The rice Ubiquitin1 (Ubi1) promoter was tested to evaluate its capacity to express the heterologous gusA gene encoding β-glucuronidase in transgenic rice tissue relative to the commonly used Ubi1 corn promoter and the rice gibberellic acid insensitive (GAI) gene promoter element. Experimental results showed increased expression of gusA gene in rice tissue when driven by the native Ubi1 promoter when compared to the use of corn Ubi1 promoter. Results further indicated that the cis-regulatory elements present in the native promoter element might have been responsible for high expression. However, the gusA gene expression level when driven by the rice GAI promoter was notably lower than both Ubi1 promoters. The present study, thus, for the first time helped to demonstrate that the native Ubi1 promoter is a promising genetic element in transgenic approaches for constitutive expression of any gene in rice tissue.