Obtaining High Pest-resistant Tobacco Plants Carrying B.t. insecticidal Gene

To increase the expression level of CryIA(c) gene in transgenic plants, a plant expression vector pBinMoBc carrying the CryIA(c) gene under control of chimeric OM promoter and Ω factor was constructed. As a control, pBinoBc carrying the CryIA(c) gene with the CaMV 35S promoter was also constructed. The vectors were transferred into tobacco plants respectively via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. ELISA assay showed that the expression level of the CryIA(c) gene in pBinMoBc transgenic tobacco plants was 2.44-times that in pBinoBc transgenic tobacco plants, and it could be up to 0.255% of total soluble proteins. Bioassay showed that pBinMoBc transgenic tobacco plants had more notable insecticidal effect than pBinoBc transgenic tobacco plants. The above results showed that the chimeric OM promoter was a stronger promoter than CaMV 35S promoter that was widely used in plant genetic engineering, and this is very useful in pest-resistant plant genetic engineering.     

转蔗糖: 蔗糖-1-果糖基转移酶基因提高烟草的耐旱性

蔗糖: 蔗糖-1-果糖基转移酶（sucrose: sucrose 1-fructosyltransferase, 1-SST）以蔗糖为底物催化生成蔗果三糖等低聚合度的果聚糖.将从莴苣中克隆的1-SST基因重组到pCAMBIA1300-als中，构建了在CaMV 35S启动子调控下的植物表达载体，利用农杆菌介导的叶盘转化法将1-SST基因导入烟草中，PCR和Southern杂交检测表明获得了转基因植株，RT-PCR结果表明该基因在烟草中正常表达. 对T₀代转基因烟草进行的耐旱性分析结果表明，干旱胁迫6d的转基因植株丙二醛含量和电解质渗漏率显著低于未转基因对照，叶片相对含水量下降速度也明显比对照慢. 对转基因植株叶片糖分分析表明，转基因烟草植株积累果聚糖，并在干旱胁迫后含量明显增加，而未转基因对照植株不积累果聚糖. 在14%PEG溶液中未转基因烟草种子的萌发率仅为转基因烟草种子的一半；在附加200mmol/L甘露醇的培养基中未转基因烟草种子根的生长明显受到抑制，而转基因烟草根的生长发育正常. 以上研究结果表明，转1-SST基因烟草植株耐旱性的提高可能与该基因的表达有关.     

Obtaining transgenic rice resistant to rice fungal blast disease by controlled cell death strategy

The strategy of the two-component system,composed of Barnase and Barstar which encode RNase and a specific inhibitor to the RNase respectively, is adopted to obtain transgenic rice resistant to rice fungal blast disease. In this study, two chimeric promoters, induced by rice blast fungus pathogen (Magnaporthe grisea), are fused with Barnase respectively to construct two plant expression vectors, pWBNBS and pPBNBS together with the Barstar driven by CaMV 35S promoter. The resistance of the transgenic rice lines to rice blast fungus disease and rice blight disease are evaluated. The results show that (1) the expression of Barnase is induced in rice leaves when inoculated with the spores of Magnaporthe grisea; (2) the induced expression level of Barnase surpasses the level of Barstar, which elicits a similar hypersensitive response (HR) in the leaves, and the transgenic plant shows high resistance to the rice fungal blast disease; and (3) transgenic rice plants also show obvious resistance to rice bacterial blight disease. Taken together, these results suggest that the transgenic rice plants harboring this two-component system acquire relatively broad spectrum resistance against pathogens, especially high resistance to rice fungal pathogen.     

Function of resveratrol derived from transgenic plant expressing resveratrol synthase gene

Two genes from grapevine coding for resveratrol synthase, named RS1 and RS2, were cloned by RT-PCR. AnEscherichia coli expression vector was constructed by insertion of RS1 into pBV221. A specific protein with the same molecular weight (42 ku) as the resveratrol synthase was expressed and used to prepare the rabbit antiserum. A plant expression vector was constructed by inserting the RS1 gene into pBin438 downstream of the doubled CaMV 35S promoter and TMV-Ω fragment. PCR-positive transgenic tobacco plants were obtained after transformation withAgrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 harboring the plant expression vector. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that the foreign gene was integrated into the tobacco genome. The results of RT-PCR and Western blot indicated that the RS1 gene was transcribed and expressed. Formation of resveratrol in transgenic tobacco was further determined by thin-layer chromatography of silica gel and HPLC. Increased accumulation of human breast adenocarcinoma cells in G₀ and G₁ phases of cell cycle was observed in cells treated with resveratrol purified from transgenic tobacco as compared to the untreated cells.     

Comparative expression analysis of three genes from the Arabidopsis vacuolar Na^＋/H^＋ antiporter （AtNHX） family in relation to abiotic stresses

Na~ /H~ antiporters (NHX) are ubiquitous transmembrane proteins that play a key role in salt tolerance of plants. In this study, the sequence of 3 Arabidopsis NHX gene (AtNHX2―4) were compared with other AtNHX members. Putative cis-elements analysis identified elements that have been associated with stress responses. The activities of the promoters AtNHX2―4 were studied in transgenic plants carrying corresponding promoter-β-glucuronidase (GUS) fusions. The AtNHX2 promoter-GUS analysis indicated that AtNHX2 was expressed in constitutive pattern with high GUS activity in roots and leaves. AtNHX2 promoter activity was not up-regulated by NaCl or abscisic acid (ABA), in contrast to the AtNHX1 promoter which was previously studied. The AtNHX3 and AtNHX4 promoters showed tissue-specific activities. Strong GUS activity was detected in roots and vascular bundles of the stele in plants carry-ing an AtNHX4 promoter-GUS fusion, and GUS activity increased under salt stress suggesting a func-tion related to salt tolerance. Transgenic plants carrying the AtNHX3 promoter-GUS fusion showed strong GUS activity in petals, stamens and tops of siliques, suggesting a possible role of AtNHX3 in flower and seed development. Results of histochemical analysis suggested that AtNHX2―4 are involved in divergent functions and are differentially regulated under abiotic stress. The structure of AtNHX4 was predicted to include 12 transmembrane regions and a NHX domain. Overexpression of AtNHX4 in Arabidopsis transgenic lines confers greater salt tolerance than in wild type plants. These results suggest that AtNHX4 may encode a putative vacuolar NHX that plays an important role in salt tolerance.     

苦瓜McAG2启动子的克隆与表达研究

文中从苦瓜基因组中克隆得到长为1417 bp的McAG2基因5′上游片段并进行了DNA序列分析.通过PCR得到了其缺失片段,将其插入pBI121载体替换CaMV35S启动子,得到了McAG2基因5′侧翼缺失表达载体.并利用农杆菌介导转化烟草,建立了相应的转基因烟草植株,以研究其在不同器官组织中的表达特性. β-glucuronidase(GUS)染色结果显示该启动子在转基因烟草叶片和根组织中没有表达活性.     

Comparative proteomics analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">OsNAS1</Emphasis> transgenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> under salt stress

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agricultural plants worldwide. We used proteomics to analyze the differential expression of proteins in transgenic OsNAS1 and non-transformant Brassica napus treated with 20 mmol/L Na₂CO₃. Total protein from the leaves was extracted and separated through a high-resolution and highly repetitive two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) technology system. Twelve protein spots were reproducibly observed to be upregulated by more than 2-fold between transgenic and non-transformant B. napus. These 12 spots were digested in-gel with trypsin and characterized by matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to obtain the peptide mass fingerprints. Protein database searching revealed that 5 of these proteins are involved in salt tolerance: dehydrogenase, glutathione S-transferase, peroxidase, 20S proteasome beta subunit, and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. The potential functions of these identified proteins in substance and energy metabolism, stress tolerance, protein degradation, and cell defense are discussed. The salt tolerance of the transgenic rapeseed was significantly improved by the introduction of the OsNAS1 gene from Brazilian upland rice of Oryza sativa (cv. IAPAR 9).     

多基因双T-DNA植物表达载体的构建及拟南芥转化

多基因植物表达载体用于植物遗传转化是培育具有多种优良品质作物的有效策略. 双T-DNA系统是实现筛选完成后选择标记基因删除的一种简便可行的方式. 为培育高度抗逆或去除标记基因的农作物，构建了多基因双T-DNA植物表达载体2T-bbgdD，其中含有一个抗除草剂基因bar, 3个抗逆相关基因(DREB1A, Na+依赖性Pi转运体基因（d5）, betA)和一个报告基因gfp. 利用农杆菌介导法将该载体转入拟南芥，获得了多基因共转化及去除标记基因的转基因拟南芥. 可将此植物表达载体进一步用于作物的遗传转化.     

TaNHX2基因植物表达载体的构建及在烟草中的表达

将TaNHX2基因重组于质粒pBIN438的CaMV 35S启动子下游,构建含TaNHX2基因的植物双元表达载体pBIN438-TaNHX2.采用农杆菌介导转化烟草(Nicotiana tobacum L.),获得含TaNHX2的转基因烟草植株.经PCR、RT-PCR分析表明,TaNHX2基因已整合到烟草中,并且得到表达.耐盐分析表明,外源基因TaNHX2提高了转基因植株的耐盐性.     

Transgeneration memory of stress in plants

Owing to their sessile nature, plants are constantly exposed to a multitude of environmental stresses to which they react with a battery of responses. The result is plant tolerance to conditions such as excessive or inadequate light, water, salt and temperature, and resistance to pathogens. Not only is plant physiology known to change under abiotic or biotic stress, but changes in the genome have also been identified. However, it was not determined whether plants from successive generations of the original, stressed plants inherited the capacity for genomic change. Here we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana plants treated with short-wavelength radiation (ultraviolet-C) or flagellin (an elicitor of plant defences), somatic homologous recombination of a transgenic reporter is increased in the treated population and these increased levels of homologous recombination persist in the subsequent, untreated generations. The epigenetic trait of enhanced homologous recombination could be transmitted through both the maternal and the paternal crossing partner, and proved to be dominant. The increase of the hyper-recombination state in generations subsequent to the treated generation was independent of the presence of the transgenic allele (the recombination substrate under consideration) in the treated plant. We conclude that environmental factors lead to increased genomic flexibility even in successive, untreated generations, and may increase the potential for adaptation.     

表达长喙田菁SrPCS4烟草的获得及Cd抗性研究

植物螯合肽(phytochelatins,PCs)在植物解除重金属的毒性方面具有重要作用,是以谷胱甘肽为底物,在植物螯肽合成酶(phytochelatin synthase,PCS)催化下合成的.作者已经克隆得到的长喙田菁(Sesba-nia rostrata)植物螯合肽合成酶SrPCS4 cDNA长为1035 bp,其ORF编码177个氨基酸,以pHANNIBAL及pART27为基础,构建了CaMV35S启动子驱动的SrPCS4基因植物表达载体pAM25,采用电击转化方法将pAM25导入根癌农杆菌EHA105,并通过改良叶盘转化方法用该菌株对烟草进行了转化,对转基因烟草进行了PCR与northern-blot检测,研究结果表明得到了表达该基因的烟草,但表达该基因的烟草不能够提高对Cd的抗性.     

Enhanced late blight resistance of transgenic potato expressing glucose oxidase under the control of pathogen-inducible promoter

To engineer crop disease resistance by utilizing natural defense mechanism that was expressed in the incompatible host-pathogen interactions is expected to result in a durable and broad-spectrum resistance. In order to prove this viewpoint, we amplified the coding region of the glucose oxidase (GO) gene from Aspergillus niger via PCR and fused it to the pathogen-inducible promoter, Prp1-1. The chimeric gene was cloned into a plant expression vector and conjugated into Agrobacterium. Twenty-three transgenic potato plants were obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The integration of GO gene was confirmed by Southern hybridization and the GO gene expression was identified with KI-starch color reaction. Phytophthora infestans inoculation revealed that the expression of the chimeric transgene was induced by pathogen infection. Most of the transgenic plants exhibited various degrees of enhanced disease resistance. Four of them had lesion sizes reduced to less than half of the non-transgenic controls. One plant showed disease resistance of the hypersensitive response. These results testified the feasibility of our strategy of expressing GO transgene under the control of the disease-inducible promoter in engineering crop disease resistance.     

白桦BpGRAS1基因的克隆及耐盐功能分析

【目的】 GRAS转录因子是植物特有的转录因子家族之一,在植物响应盐、干旱等非生物胁迫中发挥重要的调控作用。从白桦(Betula platyphylla )中克隆GRAS转录因子基因,研究其耐盐功能,为研究木本植物GRAS转录因子的抗逆机制奠定理论基础。【方法】 在白桦转录组数据库中获得一个GRAS转录因子基因,命名为BpGRAS1 (GenBank 登录号: MN117546.1)。利用生物信息学进行多序列比对、构建进化树。分别构建植物过表达(pROKⅡ-BpGRAS1) 及抑制表达(pFGC5941-BpGRAS1) 载体。利用农杆菌介导高效瞬时遗传转化体系获得BpGRAS1基因瞬时过表达(OE)、抑制表达(IE) 及对照 (WT) 白桦植株。通过实时荧光定量RT-PCR(qRT-PCR) 技术分析盐胁迫下OE、IE及WT植株中BpGRAS1基因的表达情况,鉴定转基因植株中BpGRAS1的表达效率是否响应盐胁迫。在盐胁迫下比较了BpGRAS1基因瞬时过表达、抑制表达及对照白桦植株的电解质渗透率、失水率、丙二醛(MDA) 含量、过氧化物酶 (POD) 和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD) 活性。【结果】 BpGRAS1基因的开放阅读框为1 425 bp,编码 474个氨基酸。BpGRAS1具有GRAS家族的序列特征,在C端的氨基酸序列相似度较高,与AtSHR亲缘关系较近。盐胁迫处理下,BpGRAS1的表达量升高,过表达植株中表达量高于对照,抑制表达植株中表达量低于对照,说明BpGRAS1受盐胁迫诱导,成功获得过表达及抑制表达植株。过表达BpGRAS1基因能降低白桦在盐胁迫下的电解质渗透率、失水率及 MDA 的积累,并显著增强了 POD 和 SOD 酶的活性,从而提高转基因植株的耐盐性。【结论】 BpGRAS1基因响应盐胁迫,过表达BpGRAS1基因降低了盐胁迫下植株细胞受损程度,通过增强POD 和 SOD 活性提高白桦的耐盐能力。     

Overexpression of phospholipase <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>α gene enhances drought and salt tolerance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus tomentosa</Emphasis>

The cDNA of AtPLDa （Arabidopsis thaliana Phospholipase Da） gene was introduced into P. tomentosa （Populus tomentosa） under the control of the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Southern and Northern blot analyses suggested that the AtPLDa gene has been transferred into the P. tomentosa genome. No obvious morphological or developmental difference was observed between the transgenic and wild-type （WT） plants. Drought and salt tolerance and gene expression of seedlings of several transgenic lines and WT plants （control） were studied. The results showed that the rhizogenesis rate and the average root-length of transgenic lines were significantly higher than WT plants after mannitol and NaCI treatment under the same growth conditions. Northern blot analysis indicated that the higher the PLDa expression in the transgenic plants, the more tolerant the transgenic plants are to drought and salt treatment. Meanwhile, another group of these transgenic lines and WT plants （control） were treated with PEG6000 and NaCI separately. The contents of chlorophylls and the activities of some anti- oxidant enzymes （superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase and catalase） as well as malondialdehyde and relative electrical conductivity were analyzed. Altogether, our results demonstrated that overexpression of the PLDa gene can enhance the drought and salt tolerance in transgenic P. tomentosa plants.     

Expression of two insect-resistant genes crylA ( b&c )/GNA in transgenic tobacco plants results in added protection against both cotton bollworm and aphids

The synthesized Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein gene crylA(b&c) and the synthesized gene GNA, (the mannose specific lectin from snowdrop ( Galanthus nivalis)), tumefaciens have been inserted into plant expression vector pGW4BAI. Leave stripes of Nico-tiana tabacum var. K326 have been transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring the plant expression vector. 28 kanamycin resistant tobacco plants have been obtained. PCR and Southern blot analyses show that the foreign crylA and GNA genes have been inserted into the genome of transformed tobacco plants. Haemagglutination assays show that GNA has a functional activity. Leaf disc bioassays against cotton bollworm ( H. armigera) show that the transgenic tobacco plants have a high insecticidal activity. The inhibition of aphid population in leaf disc bioassays against Myzus persicae shows that the fecundity of aphid on transgenic plants is lower than that on untransformed plants; the aphid population on the transgenic tobacco plants is 25%-70% that on untransformed tobacco plants. ELISA analysis of CrylA protein in tobcco leaves provides similar data to bioassay results. Through the two bioassays against H. armigera and M. persicae, several transgenic tobacco plants showing high insect-resistant activities to both pests have been obtained.     

Disease-tolerance of transgenic tobacco plants expressing Ah-AMP gene of Amaranthus hypochondriacus

An antimicrobial peptide gene from Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Ah-AMP, was amplified by PCR and cloned. Sequence analysis results revealed that this gene is 261 bp in length encoding a precursor polypeptide of 87 amino acid residues. Ah-AMP gene was inserted in the binary vector pBin438 to construct a plant expression vector pBinAH916. Leave explants of Nicotiana tabacum var. SR1 were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 harboring the above expression vector. Results from PCR, Southern and Northern blot analyses confirmed that the Ah-AMP gene had been integrated into the tobacco genome and was transcribed at mRNA level. Two bacterial-resistant transgenic plants were selected by inoculating the plants with Pseudomonas solanacearum and statistic analysis of two T1 lines showed that the resistance increased by 2.24 and 1.62 grade and the disease index decreased by 49.6% and 37.3% respectively when compared with the non-transformed control plants SR1. The results from challenging the plants with inoculums of Phytophthora parasitica showed that the symptom development was delayed and disease index was significantly reduced. These results suggest that Ah-AMP gene may be a potentially valuable gene for genetic engineering of plant for disease-resistance.