• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to understand the physiological response and cadmium accumulation of MuS1 transgenic tobacco exposed to high concentration of Cd in soil. For this, a pot experiment was carried out in a greenhouse for a month, with two lines of MuS1 transgenic tobaccos (S4 and S6) and non-transgenic tobacco cultivated in the soils spiked at three different Cd concentrations (0, 60 and 180 mg $kg^{-1}$). Both transgenic and non-transgenic tobacco showed visible toxic symptoms such as chlorosis and leaf roll as treated concentration increased. The net photosynthetic rates of MuS1 plants (S4 and S6) exposed at 180 mg $kg^{-1}$ Cd were 6.3 and $7.7{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$, being higher than those of the non-transgenic plant ($4.8{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$). Values of stomatal conductance of MuS1 transgenic plants (0.05 and 0.008 mmol $H_2O\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$) were also higher than those of non-transgenic plant (0.03 mmol $H_2O\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$). In addition, fresh and dry weights of MuS1 transgenic plants were heavier than those of non-transgenic plant. Likewise, MuS1 transgenic plants appeared to be better physiological performance than non-transgenic tobacco when exposed at high concentration of Cd in soil. With regard to metal accumulation, MuS1 transgenic tobaccos accumulated more Cd in their roots than non-transgenic tobacco implying that MuS1 transgenic tobacco is suggested to be used for phytostabilization of heavy metals.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2000

To examine the chilling tolerance lipids, we compared the chilling susceptibility of photosystem II of wild type tobacco plants with that of transgenic tobacco plants, in which the sensitivity to chilling had been enhanced by genetic modification of fatty acid unsaturation of chloroplast membrane lipids. The transgenic tobacco plants were found to contain reduced levels of unsaturated membrane fatty acids by being tansformed with cDNA for glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase from squash. For the purpose of studying on the functional integrity of photosystem II during low-temperature photoinhibition, the photochemical efficiency was measured as the ration of the maximun fluorescence of chlorophyll (Fv/Fm) of photosystem II. In parallel with an investigation on the transgenic plants, susceptibility of chilling-resistant species, such as spinah and pea, and of chilling-sensitive ones, such as squash and sweet potato, to low-temperature photoinhibition was also compared in terms of room temperature-induced chlorophyll fluorescence from photosystem II. When leaf disks from the two genotypes of tobacco plants were exposed to light at 5$^{\circ}C$, the transgenic plants showed more rapid decline in photochemical activity of photosysytme II than wild-type plants. When they were pretreated with lincomycin, an inhibitor of chloroplast-encoded protein synthesis, the extent of photoinhibition was even more accelerated. More impottantly, they showed a comparable extent of photoinhibition in the presence of lincomycin, making a clear contrast to the discrepancy observed in the discrepancy observed in the absence of lincomycin. Restoration of Fv/Fm during recovery from low-temperature photoinhibition occurred more slowly in the transgenic tobacco plants than the wild-type. These findings are discussed in relation to fatty acid unsaturation of membrane phosphatidylglycerol. It appears that the ability of plants to rapidly regenerate the active photosystem II complex from might explain, in part, why chilling-resistant plants can toleratlow-temperature photoinhibition.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.141-146
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• 2006

We previously showed that NtCDPK1, a tobacco calcium-dependent protein kinase, interacts with and phosphorylates the Rpn3 regulatory subunit of the 26S proteasome, and that both NtCDPK1 and Rpn3 are mainly expressed in rapidly proliferating tissues, including shoot and root meristem. In this study, we examined NtCDPK1 expression in roots using GUS expression in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, and investigated its function in root development by generating transgenic tobacco plants carrying a sense NtCDPK1 transgene. GUS activity was first detected in roots two days after sowing. In later stages, strong GUS expression was detected in the root meristem and elongation zone, as well as the initiation sites and branch points of lateral roots. Transgenic tobacco plants in which NtCDPK1 expression was suppressed were smaller, and their root development was abnormal, with reduced lateral root formation and less elongation. These results suggest that NtCDPK1 plays a role in a signaling pathway regulating root development in tobacco.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 1998

TMV resistant lines (TRLs) originated from the Blo plant of Nicotiana tabacum cv. NC82 transformed with TMV coat protein cDNA which initially showed delayed disease symptom were selected for increased resistance in each subsequent generation. The result of field experiment of the transgenic tobacco lines in the fifth generation for TMV resistance and their response to other tobacco diseases (black shank, bacterial wilt, and powdery mildew) is described in this report. When fifteen TRLs of the fifth generation were tested for TMV resistance by mechanically inoculating the individual plants, over 95 percent of the plants of 6 lines showed complete resistance even 8 weeks after the inoculation. Average frequency of the resistant plants in TRLs of the fifth generation 8 weeks after the inoculation was 87%. Stable insertion and expression of TMV coat protein cDNA in the fifth generation of the transgenic tobacco plant were confirmed by PCR and immunoblot hybridization, respectively. All TRLs were resistant to the black shank but were susceptible to the bacterial wilt disease and the powdery mildew to the same degree as non-transgenic NC82 was. Therefore, it was indicated that the phenotypes related at least to disease resistance were not changed in the transgenic tobacco. Key words : TMV CP cDNA, TMV resistant tobacco plant, transformation.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2009

Human erythropoietin (EPO) is a leading product in the biopharmaceutical market, but functional EPO has only been produced in mammalian cells, which limits its application and drives up the production costs. Using plants to produce human proteins may be an alternative way to reduce the cost. However, a recent report demonstrated that overexpression of the human EPO gene (EPO) in tobacco or Arabidopsis rendered males sterile and retarded vegetative growth, which raises concern whether EPO might interfere with hormone levels in transgenic plants. In the present study, we demonstrated that overexpressing EPO with additional 5'-His tag and 3' ER-retention peptides in tobacco did not cause any developmental defect compared to GUS plants. With our method, all 20 transgenic plants grew on selective medium and, further confirmed by PCR, were fertile. Most of them grew similarly compared to GUS plants. Only one transgenic plant (EPO2) was shorter in plant height but had twice the life span compared to other transgenic plants. When 11 randomly selected EPO plants, along with the abnormal plant EPO2, were subjected to RT-PCR analysis, all of them had detectable EPO transcripts. However, their protein levels varied considerably; seven of them had detectable EPO proteins analyzed by western blot. Our results indicate that overexpressing human EPO protein in plants does not have detrimental effects on growth and development. Our transformation systems allow us to further explore the possibility of glycoengineering tobacco plants for producing functional EPO and its derivatives.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2003

Transgenic tobacco plants were selected by using the transformation of putrescine N-methyltransferase(PMT) gene, the key enzyme in diverting polyamine metabolism towards the biosynthesis of nicotine. PMT was fused in reverse orientation to the CaMV 35S promoter of the plant expression vector pBTEX(pPAB3) to produce tobacco plants of low nicotine content. To compare nicotine content, only pBTEX vector and PMT gene which was fused in forward orientation to the CaMV 35S promoter(pPAB2) were also transformed to the leaf tobacco plants(Nicotiana tabacum cv. NC82 and N. tabacum cv. Br2l). The presence of sense- and antisense-PMT gene, and pBTEX vector in the transgenic plant was confirmed by genomic PCR.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.213-218
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• 1999

Fructans are polyfructose molecules that function as nonstructural storage carbohydrates in several plants. In addition, it has been suggested that, due to their solubility, they can play an important role in helping plants survive periods of osmotic stress. In order to study the effect of levan synthesis on plant growth, the coding region of the levansucrase gene, which was isolated from Zymomonas mobilis, was introduced into tobacco plants using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. The presence of the levansucrase gene in transgenic plants was verified by genomic DNA gel blot analysis. RNA gel blot and immunoblot analyses showed an accumulation of the corresponding transcript and protein product of the bacterial levansucrase gene in transgenic plants. Furthermore, a thin layer chromatography analysis revealed that fructans were synthesized and deposited in transgenic tobacco plants. When $T_1$ seeds were germinated and grown under polyethylene glycol-mediated drought stress or cold stress, the transgenic seedlings displayed a substantially higher level of growth than that of untransformed plants. These results suggest that fructans may playa significant role in the tolerance of plants under osmotic stress.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2010

Glycine betaine has been reported as an osmoprotectant compound conferring tolerance to salinity and osmotic stresses in plants. We previously found that the expression of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 gene (OsBADH1), encoding a key enzyme for glycine betaine biosynthesis pathway, showed close correlation with salt tolerance of rice. In this study, the expression of the OsBADH1 gene in transgenic tobacco was investigated in response to salt stress using a transgenic approach. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing the OsBADH1 gene were generated under the control of a promoter from the maize ubiquitin gene. Three homozygous lines of $T_2$ progenies with single transgene insert were chosen for gene expression analysis. RT-PCR and western blot analysis results indicated that the OsBADH1 gene was effectively expressed in transgenic tobacco leading to the accumulation of glycine betaine. Transgenic lines demonstrated normal seed germination and morphology, and normal growth rates of seedlings under salt stress conditions. These results suggest that the OsBADH1 gene could be an excellent candidate for producing plants with osmotic stress tolerance.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.917-924
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• 2010

The practicability of transgenic tobacco engineered to express bacterial native mercuric reductase (MerA), responsible for the transport of $Hg^{2+}$ ions into the cell and their reduction to elemental mercury ($Hg^0$), without any codon modification, for phytoremediation of mercury pollution was evaluated. Transgenic tobacco plants reduce mercury ions to the metallic form; take up metallic mercury through their roots; and evolve the less toxic elemental mercury. Transformed tobacco produced a large amount of merA protein in leaves and showed a relatively higher resistance phenotype to $HgCl_2$ than wild type. Results suggest that the integrated merA gene, encoding mercuric reductase, a key enzyme of the bacterial mer operon, was stably integrated into the tobacco genome and translated to active MerA, which catalyzes the bioconversion of toxic $Hg^{2+}$ to the least toxic elemental $Hg^0$, and suggest that MerA is capable of reducing the $Hg^{2+}$, probably via NADPH as an electron donor. The transgenic tobacco expressing merA volatilized significantly more mercury than wild-type plants. This is first time we are reporting the expression of a bacterial native merA gene via the nuclear genome of Nicotiana tabacum, and enhanced mercury volatilization from tobacco transgenics. The study clearly indicates that transgenic tobacco plants are reasonable candidates for the remediation of mercurycontaminated areas.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.237-245
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• 1998

The transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) plants containing Bacillus subtilis protoporphyrinogen oxidase gene with cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter have recently been generated by using Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation. The nontransgenic and the transgenic tobacco plants were compared with respect to responses to diphenyl ether herbicide oxyfluorfen and under various environmental conditions. Both cellular leakage and lipid peroxidation caused by oxyfluorfen were found to be less in the transgenic than in the nontransgenic plants. Growth responses of the transgenic plants under various temperature, light, and water conditions were almost the same as those of the nontransgenic plants, although the transgenic plants exhibited slightly more retarded growth under low light or saturated water condition. These results revealed that the transgenic tobacco plants containing B. subtilis protoporphyrinogen oxidase gene under cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter were relatively resistant to oxyfluorfen and exhibited normal growth pattern. Possible mechanism of resistance to oxyfluorfen in the transgenic plants is also discussed.