• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.87 no.3
• /
• pp.334-340
• /
• 1998

This research was conducted to identify plant regulatory regions by gene tagging method. A promoterless GUS coding sequence was introduced to Populus nigra ${\times}$ P. maximowiczii via Agrobacterium strains(LBA4404/EHA101), and putative transgenic poplars were selected by culturing on medium containing G418($60mg/{\ell}$) and by GUS assay. Among them one positive plant was to amplify the native sequences flanking to the introduced GUS gene in plant genome by inverse PCR method and from this 730 by DNA product was obtained. After subcloning and sequencing, it has 88% homology to the Eucalyptus gunnii CAD(cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene. The GUS gene fused with the putative promoter reinserted into poplar leaves by particle bombardment method to test the funtional promoter activity. Upon staining with X-gluc, many blue spots appeared on the leaf segments bombarded by the chimeric gene 2-3 days, thus the isolated DNA fragment contain some possible coding region as well as a putative regulatory sequences of poplar CAD gene.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.342-350
• /
• 2018

Flowering time is determined by florigens. These genes include, Heading date 3a (Hd3a) and Rice FT 1 (RFT1) in rice, which are specifically expressed in the vascular tissues of leaves at the floral transition stage. To study the cis-regulatory elements present in the promoter region of Hd3a, we generated transgenic plants carrying the 1.75-kb promoter fragment of Hd3a that was fused to the ${\beta}$-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Plants expressing this construct conferred a vascular cell-specific expression pattern for the reporter gene. However, GUS was expressed in leaves at all developmental stages, including the early seedling stage when Hd3a was not detected. Furthermore, the reporter was expressed in roots at all stages. This suggests that the 1.75-kb region lackings cis-elements that regulate leaf-specific expression at the appropriate developmental stages. Deletion analyses of the promoter region indicated that regulatory elements determining vascular cell-specific expression are present in the 200-bp region between -245 bp and -45 bp from the transcription initiation site. By transforming the Hd3a-GUS construct to rice cultivar 'Taichung 65' which is defective in Ehd1, we observed that Ehd1 is the major regulatory element that controls Hd3a promoter activity.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.143-150
• /
• 2002

A strong oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase promoter (referred to as SWPA2 promoter) was cloned from tell cultures of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) and characterized in transgenic tobacco cultured cells in terms of biotechnological applications. Employing a transient expression assay in tobacco protoplasts, with five different 5'-deletion mutants of the SWPA2 promoter fused to the $\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene, the 1314 bp deletion mutant showed approximately 30 times higher GUS expression than the CaMV 35S promoter. The expression of GUS activity in suspension cultures of transgenic cells derived from transgenic tobacco leaves containing the -1314 bp SWPA2 promoter-GUS fusion was strongly expressed following 15 days of subculture compared to other deletion mutants, suggesting that the 1314 bp SWPA2 promoter will be biotechnologically useful for the development of transgenic cell lines engineered to produce key pharmaceutical proteins. In this respect, we developed transgenic cell lines such as tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. BY-2), ginseng (Panax ginseng) and Siberian ginseng (Acanthopanax senticosus) using a SWPA2 promoter to produce a human lactoferrin (hLf) and characterized the hLf production in cultured cells. The hLf production monitored by ELISA analysis in transgenic BY-2 cells was directly increased proportional to cell growth and reached a maximal level (up to 4.3% of total soluble protein) at the stationary phase in suspension cultures. The SWPA2 promoter should result in higher productivity and increased applications of plant cultured cells for the production of high-value recombinant proteins.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.75-81
• /
• 2009

The Arabidopsis gene AtLEC (At3g15356) gene encodes a putative 30-kDa protein with a legume lectin-like domain. Likely to classic legume lectin family of genes, AtLEC is expressed in rosette leaves, primary inflorescences, and roots, as observed in Northern blot analysis. The accumulation of AtLEC transcript is induced very rapidly, within 30 min, by chitin, a fungal wall-derived oligosaccharide elictor of the plant defense response. Transgenic Arabidopsis carrying an AtLEC promoter-driven ${\beta}$-glucuronidase (GUS) construct exhibited GUS activity in the leaf veins, secondary inflorescences, carpel heads, and silique receptacles, in which no expression could be seen in Northern blot analysis. This observation suggests that AtLEC expression is induced transiently and locally during developmental processes in the absence of an external signal such as chitin. In addition, mechanically wounded sites showed strong GUS activity, indicating that the AtLEC promoter responds to jasmonate. Indeed, methyl jasmonate and ethylene exposure induced AtLEC expression within 3-6 h. Thus, the gene appears to play a role in the jasmonate-/ethylene-responsive, in addition to the chitin-elicited, defense responses. However, chitin-induced AtLEC expression was also observed in jasmonate-insensitive (coi1) and ethylene-insensitive (etr1-1) Arabidopsis mutants. Thus, it appears that chitin promotes AtLEC expression via a jasmonate- and/or ethylene-independent pathway.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.415-421
• /
• 2000

The disaccharide trehalose ($\alpha$-D-glucopyranosyl-$\alpha$-D-glucopyranoside) is found in variety of organ-isms that are able to withstand almost complete desiccation. In order to identify the function of trehalose in plants, we isolated Arabidopsis trehalase (AtTRE) gene that encodes the enzyme able to hydrolyze trehalose to glucose, and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase isolog, TPS3 gene by RT-PCR. The AtTRE had the substrate specificity to hydrolyze only trehalose, and a broad pH range of enzyme activity. The AtTRE promoter/GUS reporter gene was expressed in cotyledons, mature leaf tissues including guard cells, and developing siliques. The GUS expression driven by AtTPS3 promoter was significant in root tissues, and the level of GUS activity was much higher than that of the pBll 21 control seedlings. The knockout of AtTPS3 gene in Arabidopsis resulted in the retarded root development, whereas the overexpression of AtTPS3 increased the root elongation in the presence of sucrose in MS medium. Possible functions of AtTRE and AtTPS3 in plant will be discussed. In addition, ectopic expression of yeast TPS1 driven by the inducible promoters in tobacco and potato conferred the plants on the drought and freezing tolerances.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2011

Molecular techniques such as genetic transformation are powerful tools that can be used for the genetic modification of warm-season grasses. The P. meyerianum with high regeneration ability was used for establishing an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. We investigated various factors affecting Agrobacterium infection by examining GUS gene expression of pCAMBIA1304 vector. Among various concentration of acetosyringone and betaine tested for inoculation and co-cultivation, 10 mg/L acetosyringone and 60 mg/L betaine resulted in the highest transformation frequency in terms of GUS expression. The calli of 4 species of Panicum spp. with excellent tissue culture response were inoculated with Agrobacterium under the optimal infection conditions. The high activity of GUS gene was observed in all species and hygromycin-resistant calli expressing GFP were obtained in P. meyerianum, P. longijubatum, P. stapfianum and guineagrass Noh-PL1. Co-cultivated calli were transferred onto the selection medium containing hygromycin, and the hygromycin resistant calli were selected after 3 months. Hygromycin-resistant plantlets were then successfully regenerated from the calli and grown in a greenhouse. We confirmed stable insertion of hpt gene among the hygromycin-resistant plantlets of P. meyerianum by PCR analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.204-204
• /
• 2005

• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.193-199
• /
• 2011

An efficient transient expression system has been developed and characterized for the production of foreign genes in seedlings. The seedlings can be easily produced from commercial seeds used for vegetable sprouts. In principal, a chemical abrasive was employed to generate wounds in seedlings prior to vacuum-infiltration with Agrobacterium tumefaciens bearing the target gene. This optimized chemical wounding-assisted agro-infiltration process resulted in up to 15-fold increase in $\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) enzyme activity. This procedure has been used efficiently to express hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) protein in a transient mode. Therefore, seedlings with proper wounds can be suggested as a convenient tool for the production of useful recombinant proteins.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.219-226
• /
• 2008

Transgenic plants with the herbicide-resistance gene (bar gene) were obtained via organogenesis from isolated mesophyll protoplasts of Nierembergia repens after applying electroporation. Transient ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ (GUS) activity of electroporated protoplasts assayed 2 days after applying an electric pulse showed that optimum condition (transient GUS activity 319 pmol 4 MU/mg per min and plating efficiency 2.43%) for electroporation was 0.5 kV/cm in field strength and $100{\mu}F$ in capacitance. The protoplasts electroporated with the bar gene at this condition initiated formation of microcolonies on medium after 2 weeks. After 4 weeks of culture, equal volume of fresh 1/2-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.2 mg/l bialaphos was added for selection of transformed colonies. After 6 weeks of culture, growing colonies were transferred onto regeneration medium containing 1.0 mg/l bialaphos, on which they formed adventitious shoots 1-2 months after electroporation. The adventitious shoots rooted easily after transfer onto MS medium with bialaphos lacking plant-growth regulators. Transformation of these regenerants with the bar gene was confirmed by Southern analysis. Some of the transformants showed strong resistance to the application of bialaphos solution at 10.0 mg/l.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1996.07a
• /
• pp.26-38
• /
• 1996

To investigate the regulation of plant histone H2A gene expression, we isolated two H2A genes (TH254 and TH274) from wheat, which encode different types of variants. Both genes had an intron in the coding region. In the promoters, some characteristics sequences, such as Oct and Nona motifs, which are conserved among plant histone genes were also found, and they were located in a short region (about 120 bp) upstream from the putative TATA box. Analyses of promoter activity with H2A-GUS fusion genes in the transient system using tobacco protoplasts revealed novel types of positive cis-acting sequences in the TH254 promoter: a direct repeat of a 13-bp sequence (AGTTACATTATTG) and a stretch composed of an AT-rich sequence (ATATAGAAAATTAAAA) and a G-box (CACGTG). A quantitative S1 assay of the mRNA amounts from the TH254/GUS and TH274/GUG chimeric genes in stably transformed and cell cycle-synchronized tobacco cell lines showed that the promoters of both genes contained at least one cis-acting element responsible for S phase-specific expression. Histochemical analysis of transgenic tobacco plants carrying the chimeric genes showed that the promoters of the two H2A genes were both active in developing seedlings and flower organs but regulated in different manner.