The 5＇ fragment （1 647 bp） of the cotton glucuronosyltransferase gene （GhGlcAT1） was transcriptionally fused to the β-glucuronidase （GUS） gene, and functionally analyzed for important regulatory regions contro...The 5＇ fragment （1 647 bp） of the cotton glucuronosyltransferase gene （GhGlcAT1） was transcriptionally fused to the β-glucuronidase （GUS） gene, and functionally analyzed for important regulatory regions controlling gene expression in transgenic tobacco plants. GUS activity analysis revealed that the full-length promoter drives efficient expression of the GUS gene in the root cap, seed coat, pollen grains and trichomes. Exposure of the transgenic tobacco to various abiotic stresses showed that the promoter was mainly responsive to the sugars （glucose and sucrose） as well as gibberellic acid. Progressive upstream deletion analyses of the promoter showed that the region from -281 to ＋30 bp is sufficient to drive strong GUS expression in the trichomes of shoot, suggesting that the 311 bp region contains all cis-elements needed for trichome-specific expression. Furthermore, deletion analysis also revealed that the essential cis-element（s） for sucrose induction might be located between -635 and -281 bp. In addition, sequence analysis of the regulatory region indicated several conserved motifs among which some were shared with previously reported seed-specific elements and sugarresponsive elements, while others were related with trichome expression. These findings indicate that a 1 647-bp fragment of the cotton GhGIcAT1 promoter contains specific transcription regulatory elements, and provide clues about the roles of GhGIcAT 1 in cotton fiber development. Further analyses of these elements will help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of the GhGlcAT1 gene during fiber elongation.展开更多
Nod factors, which are signaling molecules produced by Rhizobia, are the principal determinants of host specificity in Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Nod factors can elicit a number of characteristic developmental respon...Nod factors, which are signaling molecules produced by Rhizobia, are the principal determinants of host specificity in Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Nod factors can elicit a number of characteristic developmental responses in the roots of legumes, such as depolarization of the membrane potential in epidermal cells, specific expression of early nodulin genes and changes in the flux of calcium in root hairs, deformation of root hairs, cell division in the root cortex and formation of the nodule primordium. Whether the rice plant can respond to signaling molecules (i.e. Nod factors) is an important question, as it could establish the potential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in rice. The promoter of the soy-bean (Glycine max) early nodulin gene Gmenod2B fused to the b-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene was used as a mo-lecular marker to explore whether Nod factors can be recog-nized by rice cells as signaling molecules. Transgenic rice plants harboring the chimeric gene Gmenod2BP-GUS were obtained via an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated system. NodNGR factors produced by a broad-host-range Rhizobium strain NGR234(pA28) were used as probes to investigate the activity of the Gmenod2B promoter in rice. Our results showed that the early nodulin gene Gmenod2B promoter was induced by NodNGR factors in transgenic rice, and that it was specifically expressed in rice plant roots. Moreover, GUS gene expression driven by the Gmenod2B promoter in trans-genic rice was regulated by nitrogen status. These findings indicated that rice possessed the ability to respond to Nod factor signals, and that this signal transduction system re-sulted in activation of the Gmenod2B promoter. Thus, we predict that the Nod-factor inducible nodulin expression system, which is similar to Rhizobium-legume symbiosis, may also exist in rice.展开更多
文摘The 5＇ fragment （1 647 bp） of the cotton glucuronosyltransferase gene （GhGlcAT1） was transcriptionally fused to the β-glucuronidase （GUS） gene, and functionally analyzed for important regulatory regions controlling gene expression in transgenic tobacco plants. GUS activity analysis revealed that the full-length promoter drives efficient expression of the GUS gene in the root cap, seed coat, pollen grains and trichomes. Exposure of the transgenic tobacco to various abiotic stresses showed that the promoter was mainly responsive to the sugars （glucose and sucrose） as well as gibberellic acid. Progressive upstream deletion analyses of the promoter showed that the region from -281 to ＋30 bp is sufficient to drive strong GUS expression in the trichomes of shoot, suggesting that the 311 bp region contains all cis-elements needed for trichome-specific expression. Furthermore, deletion analysis also revealed that the essential cis-element（s） for sucrose induction might be located between -635 and -281 bp. In addition, sequence analysis of the regulatory region indicated several conserved motifs among which some were shared with previously reported seed-specific elements and sugarresponsive elements, while others were related with trichome expression. These findings indicate that a 1 647-bp fragment of the cotton GhGIcAT1 promoter contains specific transcription regulatory elements, and provide clues about the roles of GhGIcAT 1 in cotton fiber development. Further analyses of these elements will help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of the GhGlcAT1 gene during fiber elongation.
基金This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research (973)Program (Grant No. 200iCB108901)the fund byShanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences.
文摘Nod factors, which are signaling molecules produced by Rhizobia, are the principal determinants of host specificity in Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Nod factors can elicit a number of characteristic developmental responses in the roots of legumes, such as depolarization of the membrane potential in epidermal cells, specific expression of early nodulin genes and changes in the flux of calcium in root hairs, deformation of root hairs, cell division in the root cortex and formation of the nodule primordium. Whether the rice plant can respond to signaling molecules (i.e. Nod factors) is an important question, as it could establish the potential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in rice. The promoter of the soy-bean (Glycine max) early nodulin gene Gmenod2B fused to the b-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene was used as a mo-lecular marker to explore whether Nod factors can be recog-nized by rice cells as signaling molecules. Transgenic rice plants harboring the chimeric gene Gmenod2BP-GUS were obtained via an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated system. NodNGR factors produced by a broad-host-range Rhizobium strain NGR234(pA28) were used as probes to investigate the activity of the Gmenod2B promoter in rice. Our results showed that the early nodulin gene Gmenod2B promoter was induced by NodNGR factors in transgenic rice, and that it was specifically expressed in rice plant roots. Moreover, GUS gene expression driven by the Gmenod2B promoter in trans-genic rice was regulated by nitrogen status. These findings indicated that rice possessed the ability to respond to Nod factor signals, and that this signal transduction system re-sulted in activation of the Gmenod2B promoter. Thus, we predict that the Nod-factor inducible nodulin expression system, which is similar to Rhizobium-legume symbiosis, may also exist in rice.
