Iron Accumulation in Transgenic Red Pepper Plants Introduced Fp1 Gene Encoding the Iron Storage Protein

The Fp1 gene, originally isolated from red pepper seedlings, encode the iron storage protein, and have a high homology with ferritin genes at DNA and amino acid level. In order to determine ferritin protein expression in vegetative tissue. Fp1 gene was constructed in plant expression vector(PIG12IHm) and introduced in red pepper(var. Bukang, Chungyang and Kalag-Kimjang 2) via Agrobacterium tumefaciensmediated transformation. After selection on MS media containing Kanamycin(Km), putatively selected transformants were confirmed by amplification of selectable marker gene(Fp1 and NPII) by polymerase chain reaction. Northern blot showed that transcripts of Fp1 gene were detected in mature leaves of the plants. In A6, A7 and A8 and A14 of transgenic plants, transcript of Fp1 gene was increased seven-fold to eight-fold than other transgenic plants. Also the proteins obtained from leaves of transgenic plants were immunologically detected by Western blot using rabbit anti-ferritin polyclonal antibody. The expression protein appeared as strong band of apparent mass of 23.5kDa. suggesting the iron accumulation in transgenic red pepper plants.