• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.66-70
• /
• 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
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.75-83
• /
• 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.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.41-45
• /
• 2001

Transgenic tobacco plants were produced by the transformation of ginseng CAB gene using Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404. The presence of CAB gene in the second generation of transgenic tobacco plant was confirmed by genomic PCR. The photosynthetic ability of transgenic plants was higher than normal tobacco plants and the maximum photosynthetic point of transgenic and normal tobacco plants was 500 $\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ . The photosynthesis of C7, C11, 1, C14 cell lines was higher than normal plants at all the light intensities investigated. The photosynthesis of C2, C11, C14 cell lines in 90% dark condition was higher than normal plants. The chlorophyll contents of transgenic tobacco plants were almost same as normal plants. The % of dry weight, nicotine content, total sugar and nitrogen contents of harvested transgenic tobacco plant leaves were almost same as normal plants.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.25-28
• /
• 2000

The anthocyanin gene encoding flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase(F3,5H) was normally expressed in Nicotiana tobacco (Xanthi) plants cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 carrying egg plant flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase cDNA. Northern blot analysis showed the normal expression of F3', 5'H gene from transgenic plants. Here we found the phenotypic differences between transgenic plants and wild-type plants. The petal shape of transgenic plants showed more round shape and around petal tube area was compared to that of wild-type tobacco plants. And the petal color of transgenic plants was much lighter than that of wild-type tobacco plants.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.389-394
• /
• 2008

The ecophysiological changes occurring upon cold stress were studied using cold tolerant transgenic and wild-type tobacco plants. In a previous study, cold tolerance in tobacco was induced by the introduction of a gene encoding the zinc finger transcription factor, PIF1. Gas-exchange measurements including net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were performed prior to, in the middle of, and after a cold-stress treatment of $1{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for 96 h in each of the four seasons. In both transgenic and wild-type plants, gas-exchange parameters were severely decreased in the middle of the cold treatment, but had recovered after 2-3 h of adaptation in a greenhouse. Most t-test comparisons on gas-exchange measurements between the two plant types did not show statistical significance. Wild-type plants had slightly more water-soaked damage on the leaves than the transgenic plants. A light-response curve did not show any differences between the two plant types. However, the curve for assimilation-internal $CO_2$ in wild-type plants showed a much higher slope than that of the PIF1 transgenic plants. This means that the wild-type plant is more capable of regenerating Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and has greater electron transport capacity. In conclusion, cold-resistant transgenic tobacco plants demonstrated a better recovery of net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance after cold-stress treatment compared to wild-type plants, but the ecophysiological recoveries of the transgenic plants were not statistically significant.

• 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.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.316-321
• /
• 2001

Dehydroascorbate (DHA) reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1) catalyzes the reduction of DHA to reduced ascorbate (AsA) using glutathione (GSH) as the electron donor in order to maintain an appropriate level of ascorbate in plant cells. To analyze the physiological role of DHAR in environmental stress adaptation, we developed transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) plants that express a human DHAR gene isolated from the human fetal liver cDNA library in the chloroplasts. We also investigated the DHAR activity, levels of ascorbate, and GSH. Two transgenic plants were successfully developed by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. DHAR activity and AsA content in mature leaves of transgenic plants were approximately 1.41 and 1.95 times higher than in the non-transgenic (NT) plants, respectively In addition, the content of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in transgenic plants was approximately 2.95 times higher than in the NT plants. The ratios of AsA to DHA and GSSG to GSH were changed by overexpression of DHAR, as expected, even though the total content of ascorbate and glutathione was not significantly changed. When tobacco leaf discs were subjected to methyl viologen at $5\;{\mu}M$, $T_0$ transgenic plants showed about a 50% reduction in membrane damage compared to the NT plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.917-924
• /
• 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 Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.245-250
• /
• 1998

Tobacco mosaic virus(TMV) coat protein cDNA was transformed to Nicotiana tabacum cv. NC82 and the transgenic tobacco plants resistant to TMV infection were isolated in the next generation. The expression of TMV coat protein cDNA and genetic stability of the fifth generation of TMV resistant transgenic tobacco plants at the higher temperature were investigated. The TMV coat protein cDNA was amplified by genomic PCR in all the TMV resistant transgenic tobacco plants. The TMV coat protein expressed in the transgenic tobacco plants was detected at very low level by immunoblot hybridization. Even in tansgenic plants that showed the viral symptom only on very late sucker growth (delay type plants), the coat protein expression in the suckers was much less than that of susceptible tobacco infected with TMV. The TMV coat protein expressed in the transgenic tobacco plants was below 0.01% of total protein. Transcription and expression of the coat protein cDNA in delay type plants were observbed at high temperature (38$^{\circ}C$), and TMV replication was suppressed at both 28$^{\circ}C$ and 38$^{\circ}C$. This indicates that unlike the resistance conferred by 'N' gene. TMV resistance of transgenic tobacco plant won't break down at high temperature.

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