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.     

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

The synthesizedBacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein gene cryIA(b&c) and the synthesized geneGNA, (the mannose specific lectin from snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)), tumefaciens have been inserted into plant expression vector pGW4BAI. Leave stripes ofNicotiana tabacum var. K326 have been transformed withAgrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring the plant expression vector. 28 kanamycin resistant tobacco plants have been obtained. PCR and Southern blot analyses show that the foreigncryIA andGNA genes have been inserted into the genome of transformed tobacco plants. Haemagglutination assays show thatGNA 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 againstMyzus 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 ClyIA protein in tobcco leaves provides similar data to bioassay results. Through the two bioassays againstH. armigera andM. persicae, several transgenic tobacco plants showing high insect-resistant activities to both pests have been obtained.     

转SOD基因烟草的光合特性初探

 以转基因Fe-SOD,Mn-SOD高表达、转基因Mn-SOD反义低表达烟草及非转基因品系为供试材料,比较CO₂光强对烟草光合作用和蒸腾作用的影响及不同叶位叶片的光合差异.在相同条件下,Mn-SOD高表达烟草CO₂补偿点最高(105μmol·mol^-1),Mn-SOD低表达烟草最低(78μmol·mol^-1),CO₂浓度对非转基因烟草蒸腾作用的影响比对其他三个转基因品系的影响要强.Mn-SOD低表达烟草的光补偿点最高(45μmol·m^-2·s^-1),而Mn-SOD高表达烟草最低(25μmol·m^-2·s^-1),并且强光对非转基因烟草的光合作用抑制大,转基因品系对强光具有较强的耐受力.同一叶位叶片,转基因烟草的光合速率、蒸腾速率更强.但转基因SOD高表达烟草在整体上并没有表现出明显的光合作用优势.     

Ubi1 intron-mediated enhancement of the expression of Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize （Zea mays L.）

The cry1Ah gene was one of novel insecticidal genes cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis isolate BT8. Two plant expression vectors containing cry1Ah gene were constructed. The first intron of maize ubiqutinl gene was inserted between the maize Ubiquitin promoter and cry1Ah gene in one of the plant expressing vectors （pUUOAH）. The two vectors were introduced into maize immature embryonic calli by microprojectile bombardment, and the reproductively plants were acquired. PCR and Southern blot analysis showed that foreign genes had been integrated into maize genome and inherited to the next generation stably. The ELISA assay to T1 and T2 generation plants showed that the expression of CrylAh protein in the construct containing the ubil intron （pUUOAH） was 20% higher than that of the intronless construct （pUOAH）. Bioassay results showed that the transgenic maize harboring cry1Ah gene had high resistance to the Asian corn borers and the insecticidal activity of the transgenic maize containing the ubil intron was higher than that of the intronless construct. These results indicated that the maize ubil intron can enhance the expression of the Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize efficiently     

A novel tobacco gene coding for a product similar to bacterial two-component regulators

The two-component signaling system has been studied in bacteria. It takes part in signal transduction of adaptive behavior. Recent studies have shown that a similar two-component system is also present in eukaryotes. Examples of this areETRl andCKLl genes which may involve the signal transduction of plant hormone ethylene and cytokinin respectively. The cloning and characterization of a novel gene (NTHKl) fragment from tobacco are presented. Its partial sequence codes for a product which shows similarity to many two-component signaling proteins. Southern blot analysis indicated that there are 2 to 3 copies ofNTHKl gene in tobacco genome (allotetraploid). Homologous genes may also exist in other plants such as Arabidopsis, soybean and spinach. The expression ofNTHKl gene has also been analyzed in tobacco. Further studies on the isolation of full-length cDNA ofNTHKl gene will elucidate more clearly its function in signal perception and transduction.     

Evaluation of transgenic tobacco expressing two insecticidal genes to delay resistance development ofHelicoverpa armigera

The resistance ratio ofHelicoverpa armigera to Cry1 Ac insecticidal protein fromBacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is 13.1- and 3.02-fold after 18 generations of selection by transgenic tobacco expressing Bt or two (Bt and CpTI) insecticidal protein genes, in which the average corrected mortality for each selection treatments is about 60%. The mortality of selected population by transgenic Bt gene tobacco is significantly lower than the control strain when fed on transgenic tobacco plants. The mortaltty of the selected population by transgenic two genes tobacco was not significantly different from the control strain. This is the first experiment under laboratory condition which has proved that transgenic two genes tobacco could significantly delay resistance development ofH. armigera compared with one gene.     

Co-transformation to tobacco of Cre/lox site-specific recombination system and its precise recombination

For the temporally and spatially regulated expression of the barnase gene in plant, two kinds of plasmids with cre gene and its directly repeat recognition sitesiox from bacteriophage P1 were constructed and co-transformed into tobacco by agrobacterium mediated procedure. The transgenic plants were conformed by PCR analysis. The blocking fragment between the twolox directly repeat sites was excised by Cre protein in the transgenic plant genome. Cloning and sequencing the DNA fragment from the co-transformed plant DNA showed that the precise DNA excision occurred in transgenic tobacco genome directed by Cre/lox site-specific recombination.     

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.     

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing synthetic Cry1Ac and Cry1Ie genes are more toxic to cotton bollworm than those containing one gene

Transgenic tobacco plants carrying CrylAc, Crylle or both genes were obtained. In the leaves of transgenic plants carrying both genes, the contents of CrylAc and Crylle proteins were 0.173% and 0.131% of the total proteins, respectively. CrylAc protein content was 0.182 % and Cry1 le protein content was 0.124% of the total proteins in the leaves of transgenic plants containing only one Bt gene. Fresh leaves of transgenic tobacco and wild-type plants were used for the insect bioassay against wild-type and Cry1Ac-resistant cotton bollworm （Helicoverpa armigera）. The bioassay results showed that transgenic plants carrying both genes were significantly more toxic to wild-type and CrylAc-resistant cotton bollworm than those carrying CrylAc or Crylle alone. This study indicates that the higher toxicity of transgenic tobacco plants carrying both genes is caused by the cooperative function of both Bt proteins, thus providing a potential way to delay the development of insect resistance to transgenic crops.     

Overexpression of rice OsLOL2 gene confers disease resistance in tobacco to Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tabaci

LSD1-related proteins of Arabidopsis with LSDl-like zinc finger domains regulate disease resistance and programmed cell death （PCD）. We cloned a rice OsLOL2 gene, orthologous to LSD1 of Arabidopsis and expressed it in a tobacco plant. Transgenic tobacco lines displayed enhanced disease resistance to a virulent bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci （Pst）. RT-PCR analysis showed that overexpression of OsLOL2 in transgenic tobacco lines resulted in upregulation of two pathogenesis-related （PR） protein genes, PR2 and PR5. Our results suggest that overexpression of OsLOL2 in transgenic tobacco enhances the resistance through the induction of PR proteins and hypersensitive response-like reaction.     

Expression of human soluble TRAIL in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast

The use of plants as bioreactors for the expression oftherapeutic proteins has developed into a new field in biotechnology research[1]. Plant systems provide simple genetic manipulation, low production costs, and low risk of contamination by animal viruse…     

Multiple transgenes Populus xeuramericana ＇Guariento＇ plants obtained by biolistic bombardment

A JERF36 regulation gene, a selection marker gene （NPT-Ⅱ）, and the foreign genes levansucrase （SacB）, Vitreoscilla hemoglobin （vgb）, and Binary coleopterus insect resistance （BtCry3A＋OC-I） were co-transferred into Populus xeuramericana ＇Guariento＇ using biolistic bombardment; 25 kanamycin resistant plants were obtained, The results of PCR and Southern hybridization showed that the foreign genes had been integrated into the genome of P, xeuramericana ＇Guariento＇ and 5 genes were all transferred into 7 poplar plants, The results of a BtCry3A ELISA experiment indicated that the BtCry3A gene was expressed in the 7 transgenic poplar plants, and these plants grew well on coastal saline land,     

Integration and inheritance stability of foreignBt toxin gene in the bivalent insect-resistant transgenic cotton plants

Genetic and expressional stability of Bt toxin gene is crucial for the breeding of insect-resistant transgenic cotton varieties and their commercialization. Genomic Southern blot analysis of R₃, R₄ and R₅ generations of bivalent transgenic insect-resistant cotton plants was done in order to determine the integration, the copy number and the inheritance stability of Bt toxin gene in the transgenic cotton plants. The results indicated that there was a 4.7 kb positive band in the Southern blot when the genomic DNA of the bivalent transgenic insect-resistant cotton plants and the positive control (the plasmid) were digested with HindⅢ respectively. This result proved that the Bt toxin gene had been integrated into the genome of the cotton in full length. There is only one XhoⅠ restriction site in the Bt toxin gene. Southern blot analysis indicated that many copies of Bt toxin gene had been integrated into the genome of the cotton when the genomic DNA of transgenic plants was digested with XhoⅠ. Among them, there were four copies (about 17.7, 8, 5.5 and 4.7 kb in size) existing in all the tested plants of ₃, R₄ and R₅ generations. The preliminary conclusion was that there were more than four copies of Bt toxin gene integrated into the genome of the cotton, among them, more than one copy can express and inherit steadily. This result provides a scientific basis for the breeding of the bivalent insect-resis- tant transgenic cotton plants and its commercialization.     

Subcellular localization and functional analyses of structural domains of COP1 in transgenic tobacco

Plants have evolved an extremely exquisite light signal regulatory network to adapt to the changing ambient light conditions, in which COP1 plays a critical role of the light signal transduction. Based on the cloned pea COP1 cDNA sequence and its protein structure, four individual gene fragments encoding different structural domains of the COP1 were designed to fuse to the GFP gene. The plant expression vectors containing these fusion genes as well as the COP1GFP fusion gene were constructed and used to transform tobacco by Agribacterium as confirmed by Southern analyses. Antibodies were raised against the recombinant GFP-COP1 overproduced in Escherichia coli. Immunoblotting results demonstrated that all of the fusion genes were constitutively expressed in transgenic tobacco plants. We systematically investigated the different subcellular localization of these fusion proteins and the resulting phenotypic characteristics of these transgenic plants under light and dark conditions. Our data show that (1) the molecular mass of the tobacco endogenous COP1 protein is 76 kD. It is constitutively expressed in all of the tested tissues and the total cellular content of COP1 protein is not noticeably affected by light conditions. (2) The nuclear localization signal of COP1 plays a critical role in regulation of its nuclear-cytoplasmic partitioning. The subcellular localization of the COP1 protein containing nuclear localization signal is regulated by light in the epidermal cells of leaves, but, it is located in nucleus constitutively in root cells. (3) The coiled-coil domain is very critical to the function of COP1 protein, while the zinc binding RING finger domain only plays a supportive role. (4) The WD-40 repeats domain is essential to the COP1 function, but this domain alone does not affect photomorphogenesis. (5) Overexpression of COP1 protein not only inhibits the photomorphogenesis of the stems and leaves of the transgenic tobacco, but also results in the generation of short and clustered roots. In contrast, overexpression of COP1 protein without WD-40 repeats domain promotes the photomorphogenesis process in the stems and leaves and lead to root elongation and lack of lateral roots. The COP1-COP1 interaction happens not only in the nucleus, but also in cytoplasm.     

Salt tolerance conferred by over-expression ofOsNHX1 gene in Poplar 84K

OsNHX1 gene (Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter gene ofOryza sativa L.) was introduced into Poplar 84K withAgrobacterium tumefaciens- mediated transformation. PCR, Southern and Northern blot analysis showed thatOsNHX1 gene was incorporated successfully into the genome of Poplar 84K and expressed in these transgenic plants. Salt tolerance test showed that three lines of transgenic plants grew normally in the presence of 200 mmol/L NaCl, while the Na⁺ content in the leaves of the transgenic plants grown at 200 mmol/L NaCl was significantly higher than that in plants grown at 0 mmol/L NaCl. The osmotic potential in the transgenic plants with high salinity treatment was lower than that of control plants. Our results demonstrate the potential use of these transgenic plants for agricultural use in saline soils.     

转ChIFN-γ基因烟草抗虫机制研究

为探索转ChIFN-γ基因烟草的抗虫作用机制,对虫体蛋白酶活性变化、烟草挥发性成分以及表皮腺毛密度进行了研究.结果表明,烟青虫进食转基因烟草量较少,导致其体内分泌蛋白酶量少、活力低;转基因烟草T0和T1代,黑松三烯和西柏三烯二醇相对含量较对照高;转基因烟草腺毛密度比对照高49.2%.ChIFN-γ基因激活的多种转录因子可能结合了腺毛发育相关基因的cis调节元件,上调了腺毛发育基因的表达,导致腺毛的数量增加,分泌的萜烯化合物增加从而具有显著的抗虫性.     

Sequence modification of merB gene and high organomercurial resistance of transgenic tobacco plants

Mercury pollution has caused severe damage to environment and great attention has been paid to its control. Phytoremediation may become one of the most efficient measures to recover the polluted soil since it is economical, highly efficient and friendly to environment. In this report, plant genetic engineering methods were employed to modify the DNA sequence of merB genes that catalyze the conversion of organomercurals into ionic mercury. The modified merBhe genes were introduced into tobacco by Agrobacterium, and the resultant transgenic plants were verified by Southern and Northern hybridization. High level of organomercurial resistance was detected on progenies of transgenic plants, some of which were resistant to PMA (phenyl mercury acetate) of 2.5 μmol/L whereas 0.1 μmol/L PMA killed the seedlings of wild-type tobacco in soiless culrure. With the increase of PMA concentration, the inhibition of the seedling growth became apparent. This result makes it possible to breed mercury-resistant tobacco for phytoremediation of mercury-polluted soil.     

苜蓿花叶病毒复制酶基因全长cDNA植物表达载体的构建和对烟草的转化

将苜蓿花叶病毒中国分离株(Alfalfa mosaic virus Chinese isolate，A1MV-Ch)的复制酶P2亚基(90 kD蛋白)基因的全长cDNA构建到植物表达载体pROKⅡ中，得到重组植物表达载体pAIMV-FL．用三亲融合法导入农杆菌LBA4404，并转化烟草，经PCR检测，获得了含全长cDNA的转基因烟草植抹．     

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.