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.     

Inheritance of resistance toHelicoverpa armigera of 3 kinds of transgenicBt strains available in upland cotton in China

There are 3 kinds of transgenicBt strains, Shanxi 94-24, Zhongxin 94, and R19, in upland cotton in China. Their transgenicBt insect-resistance cultivars or hybrids have been developed and grown by farmers. Genetic studies indicate that the resistance of the 3 transgenicBt cotton strains toHelicoverpa armigera is controlled by one pair of non-allelic dominant genes. Linkage relationship between the resistant genes of R19 and Shanxi 94-24 transgenicBt strains shows that they may be inserted in the same chromosome. F₁ hybrids crossed among the 3 strains show that high levels of protection from feeding damage are the same as that of their parents. Therefore, there is no co-suppression phenomenon in many transgenic plants. The results presented here afford a fundamental reliance in developing transgenicBt insect-resistant cultivars and exploiting the heterosis of hybrids in upland cotton.     

Variation induced by DNA rearrangement in a transgenicBt+CpTI cotton strain

In the development of transgenicBt + CpTI cotton cultivars, one male and female sterile mutant has been found in a homozygous T₄ strain in our laboratory. The mutant plant, as well as its leaves, buds and flowers, is only 1/2–1/3 as large as that of the wild transgenicBt + CpTI bivalant cotton plants. Cytological observation found that the chromosome number of the mutant is 2n = 52; however, there are 4–8 univalents observed in meiosis I of pollen mother cells. Laboratory bioassay indicated that the mutant was highly resistant to bollworm as the wild plants. PCR amplification revealed thatBt andCpTI genes in the mutant were still intactly inserted. However, small deletion of flanked area had been observed in the mutant by Southern blotting analysis. So it is proposed that the mutant phenotype might result from either the DNA deletion or T-DNA transferring in plant genome. No such report has been presented that the rearrangement of chromosome structure in a homozygous transgenic line occurred. Further analysis is ongoing.     

转基因水稻与野生稻(Oryza nivara Sharma et Shastry)杂交后代种子萌发率

种子休眠性是野生植物重要的适应性状,通过种子萌发实验可以分析种子休眠性强弱.通过人工杂交获得转抗虫基因栽培稻与一年生普通野生稻三种组合的杂种,对杂种的F3代和F4代种子采用直接萌发、打破休眠后萌发、埋土15 d和30 d 4种不同处理来检测种子活力和萌发率.结果显示转基因杂种后代种子表现出较强的休眠性,转基因对种子活力和休眠性没有明显的影响,种子休眠性有随种子世代的增加而逐渐减弱的趋势,提示水稻转基因逃逸后有在野生稻群体中宿存和扩散的可能性,但这种可能性可能会随世代增加而下降.这为进一步研究水稻转基因逃逸风险提供了参考.     

Bt/CpTI抗虫转基因水稻及其非转基因亲本与普通野生稻杂种F2群体的等位基因偏态分离

了解水稻转基因是否影响野生稻基因传递的频率,对于评价转基因逃逸及其生态影响有重要意义.本研究构建了不含转基因和含转基因的栽培稻与普通野生稻杂种F2群体,利用分子标记检测了F2群体各位点的基因型和基因频率.以连续卡方分析了F2群体相关位点的基因型和基因频率观察值是否符合理论分离比,同时对各位点进行了连锁不平衡分析,并对实验群体所需的最小样本量进行理论探索.结果表明两个F2群体分别有25.93%与33.33%的位点出现了显著的非随机分离,非转基因与转基因F2群体分别在偏态分离位点数与偏离亲本方向上出现一定差异,并观察到连锁不平衡位点.实验个体数应不少于280个才能保证实验结果准确.外源转基因在杂种后代群体中会因为选择而影响基因分离,进而影响杂种群体的进化潜力.     

Generation of selectable marker-free transgenic rice resistant to chewing insects using two co-transformation systems

To produce selectable marker-free (SMF) transgenic rice resistant to chewing insects, the Bacillus thuringiensis cryIA(c) gene (Bt) was introduced into two elite japonica rice varieties by using two Agrobacterium-mediated co-transformation systems. One system is with a single mini-twin T-DNA binary vector in one Agrobacterium strain, which consists of two separate T-DNA regions, one carrying the Bt while the other contains the selectable marker gene, hygromycin resistant gene (HPT). The other system uses two separate binary vectors in two separate Agrobacterium cultures, containing the Bt or HPT gene on individual plasmids. A lot of independent transgenic rice lines harboring both Bt and selectable marker genes were obtained. The results showed that the co-transformation frequency of the Bt gene and HPT gene was much higher by using the mini-twin T-DNA vector system (29.87%) than that by the two separate binary vector systems (4.52%). However, the frequency of the SMF transgenic rice plants obtained from the offspring of co-transgenic plants (21.74%) was lower for the mini-twin T-DNA vector system than that for the latter (50-60%). The data of ELISA implied that the expressed Bt proteins were quantitated as 0.025-0.103% of total leaf soluble proteins in the transgenic plant. Therefore, several elite transgenic rice lines, free of the selectable marker gene, were chosen. The results from both in vitro and in vivo insect bioassays indicated that the SMF transgenic rice was shown to be highly resistant to the striped stem borer and rice leaf folder. Moreover, in a natural field condition without any insecticide applied, all the transgenic rice plants were found to be not injured by the rice leaf folder, whereas the wild types were impaired seriously.     

转ChIFN-γ基因烟草抗虫作用初步研究

 对田间烟蚜的自然发生情况观察和抗虫试验的研究显示,转ChIFN-γ基因烟叶具有显著的抗虫效果.为探索转基因烟草的抗虫机理,测定了叶片中烟碱含量并对植株组织进行切片染色.结果表明,烟碱含量与对照无显著差异;转基因烟草叶片增厚,细胞致密,细胞壁增厚可能是导致抗蚜虫、抗斜纹夜蛾的最直接因素之一.     

Inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait in Australian wild species ofGossypium

Five Australian wild cotton species with the delayed gland morphogenesis trait, as well as G. arboreum, G. davidsonii and four different gland genotypes of G. hirsutum, Gl₂Gl₂Gl₃Gl₃, Gl₂Gl₂gl₃gl₃, gl₂gl₂Gl₃Gl₃, and gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃, were used in this experiment and 10 interspecific hybrids were obtained by the crossing among them. According to the gland expression on the seeds and plants of the interspecific hybrids, the inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait of Australian wild cotton species was opened out as follows: (ⅰ) the inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait was almost the same among the 5 Australian wild cotton species, and the gene or genes which controlled this trait may be located in the same loci. (ⅱ) The glandless seed trait of the Australian wild cotton species was dominant over the glanded seed trait of G. arboreum, a genome A species, and the seeds of interspecific hybrid F₁ between them were glandless. However, it was recessive over the glanded character of genome D species, G.davidsonii, and their F₁ was a typical glanded one. (ⅲ) The glandless seed trait of the Australian wild cotton species was recessive or incomplete dominant over the glanded cotton but dominant over the glandless cotton of G. hirsutum, and the glandless genes (gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃) of upland cotton had great weakening effect on the glanded plant trait of the Australian wild cotton species on the other hand. For the two main glanded genes of upland cotton, the delayed gland morphogenesis trait of the Australian wild cotton species was dominant epistatic over glandless genes, gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃, and one of the glanded genes, Gl₂Gl₂, but was recessive epistatic over the other glanded gene, Gl₃Gl₃. Therefore, it is much convenient to use Gl₂Gl₂gl₃gl₃ as the upland cotton parent in the interspecific hybridization and backcrossing afterward, in order to produce the upland cotton germplasm with glandless seeds and glanded plant trait.     

Relationships between D1 protein, xanthophyll cycle and photodamage-resistant capacity in rice (Orysa sativa L.)

Relationships between D1 protein, xanthophyll cycle and subspecific difference of photodamage-resistant capacity have been studied inO. japonica rice varieties 02428 and 029 (photoinhibition-tolerance) andO. indica rice varieties 3037 and Palghar (photoinhibition-sensitivity) and their reciprocal cross F₁ hybrids after photoinhibitory treatment. It was shown that PS II photochemical efficiency (F _v /F _m) decreased, and xanthophyll cycle from violaxanthin (V), via anaxanthin (A), to zeaxanthin (Z) was enhanced and non-photochemical quenching (qN) increased accordingly in SM-pretreated leaves of rice when the synthesis of D1 protein was inhibited, and that there was a decrease inqN and, as a result, more loss of D1 protein and a big decrease inF _v/F _m in DTT-pretreated leaves when xanthophyll cycle was inhibited.O. japonica subspecies had a higher maintaining capacity of D1 protein and a decrease ofF _v/F _m in a more narrow range, and exhibited more resistance against photodamage, as compared withO. indica subspecies. The above physiological indexes in reciprocal cross F₁ hybrids, though between the values of their parents, were closer to maternal lines than to paternal lines. Experimental results support the concept that the turnover capacity for D1 protein is an important physiological basis of photoinhibition-tolerance, and will provide the physiological basis for selection of the photoinhibition-tolerant parents and develop a new approach to breed hybrids with high photosynthetic efficiency.     

Restorable variation of cytoplasmic type of male sterile line in rice byin vitro culture

Rice male sterile (MS) lines, IR66707A and IR69700A, which possess the cytoplasm of Oryza perennis and O. glumaepatula respectively, belong to the cytoplasmic type. Their sterility could be maintained but not be restored. By somatic cell culture of these two MS lines, 47 somaclones with 465 R₁ plants were obtained. All of the 465 R₁ plants were sterile in the spring season in Guangzhou. According to the expression of the R₁ plants and the level of similarity to their donor parents, they could be divided into three types. The plants of type Ⅰ were male sterile. The sterility of some somaclones of this type could be restored by the test crossing varieties or alternated to fertile by changes of some environmental conditions. The hybrid F₁ of test cross from the MS somaclones in type Ⅰ was fertile while the hybrid F₁ from the donor MS lines was still sterile. The R₁ plants of type Ⅱ were similar to the donor parents and also male sterile. The hybrid F₁ from all of the plants of type Ⅱ crossed to test variety were still sterile, so they did not possess restorability. For the somaclone of type Ⅲ, all of R₁ plants were sterile in both male and female organs. No seed was set in both conditions of self and cross pollination. The fact that the restorable variants obtained in the cytoplasmic type of MS lines of rice by in vitro culture reported here should be the first sample in somaclonal variation in plant kingdom.     

扬州地区水稻病虫害和温、湿度关系的调查报告

水稻作为扬州最重要的粮食作物之一,年种植面积达20万hm2以上。但近年来,生物灾害越来越严重地影响到扬州水稻的产出。而这些灾害很大程度上与气候变化有关。本文分析了1988年以来扬州地区的与水稻病虫害密切相关的季节的温、湿度变化特点,着重讨论了温、湿度对螟害、纹枯病的影响。     

Molecular evolution of rice S 5 n and functional comparison among different sequences

The wide compatibility gene, S ₅ ⁿ , can overcome embryo sac sterility between indica and japonica subspecies of rice. Therefore, it is very important to characterize the features of the S ₅ ⁿ sequence to reveal the origin and evolution of S ₅ ⁿ . In this paper, 26 cultivated rice haplotypes and 22 wild rice accessions harboring S ₅ ⁿ were used to sequence S ₅ ⁿ . The results showed that 15 genotypes among the 48 materials were fully consistent with control cultivar 02428 (CK). The other 33 accessions had different degrees of variation in the S ₅ ⁿ sequence. Variations in the coding region mainly occurred in the second exon and eight materials showed a 10-bp deletion at 1710?C1719 bp, including wild (O. nivara) and cultivated rice, such as IRW501 and Yuetai B. S ₅ ⁿ sequences were not biased and evolved neutrally. The 48 materials could be divided into 4 categories using a phylogenetic tree of the amino acid sequences. Most of the wild rice clustered together, and the cultivated rice clustered into another group. Eight cultivated rice and O. nivara (wild rice) clustered in another group, which were found to lack 10 consecutive bases in exon 2. Eight rice varieties with high numbers of differences in their S ₅ ⁿ coding regions were crossed with testers (typically indica and japonica) to produced test cross F₁ populations. The F₁s were examined for their ability to overcome indica-japonica hybrid sterility. The result showed that the embryo sac fertility of S ₅ ⁿ -containing hybrids increased significantly compared with control hybrids, but there were no differences among the materials with divergent sequences, indirectly proving that S ₅ ⁿ is a non-functional gene.     

Transfer of bacterial blight resistance from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza meyeriana</Emphasis> to <Emphasis Type="Italic">O. sativa</Emphasis> L. by asymmetric somatic hybridization

Asymmetric somatic hybrid plants were produced between cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wild species [O. meyeriana (Zoll. etMor, exSteud.)] with high resistance to rice bacterial blight. X-ray-irradiated protoplasts of the wild species were used as donor and chemically fused with iodoacetamide-inactivated protoplasts of rice cv. 02428 to produce hybrids. Seventy-two plants were regenerated from 623 calli based on metabolic complementation. The morphological characters of the plants closely resembled that of the rice. Simple sequence repeats were employed to identify their hybridity. Cytological analysis of root-tips revealed that their chromosome number varied in the range of 27--38. The somatic hybrids were inoculated with strains of Xanthamonas oryzae pv. oryzae at adult growth stage and demonstrated the resistance to bacterial blight introgression from the O. meyeriana.     

Introduction of antisensewaxy gene into main parent lines ofindica hybrid rice

Amylose content in rice endosperm is one of the key determinants of rice eating and cooking quality, and the poor quality ofindica hybrid rice is closely related to the high amylose level in rice grains. In order to improve the grain quality of theindica hybrid rice by genetic engineering, an antisense fragment of ricewaxy gene, driven by the 5′-franking sequences of the ricewaxy gene, was successfully introduced into three major parent lines ofindica hybrid rice, all contain a high amylose level in the grains, viaAgrobacterium, and more than 100 hygromycinresistant plants were regenerated. The analysis of PCR amplification and Southern blots indicated that the T-DNA containing the antisensewaxy gene had been integrated into the genome of transgenic rice plants. Most of the primary transgenic rice plants grew normally, and the mature seeds from these transgenic plants were performed for analysis of the amylose content. The results showed that the amylose content in the endosperm of some grains was reduced and the lowest reached 7.02% in one homozygous transgenic line, 72.4% lower than that of the wild type. The influence of the altered amylose content on the gelatinization temperature and gel consistency was also observed in several homozygous transgenic rice plants. The two authors contributed equally to this work.     

云南稻核心种质回交后代糙米总黄酮含量分析

为研究云南稻核心种质回交后代糙米总黄酮含量,本实验分别以143份云南籼稻核心种质与滇屯502,241份云南粳稻核心种质与合系35配制的杂种F6,BC2F4,BC3F3,BC4F2为材料,采用比色法对其糙米总黄酮含量进行测定分析.结果表明,籼稻后代黄酮含量高于粳稻后代;有色米高于无色米;不同世代的黄酮含量(mg/100g)情况籼稻后代是轮回亲本(236.26)BC2F4(224.69)BC4F2(222.36)BC3F3(210.19),但差异不显著;粳稻后代是BC4F2(244.42)BC2F4(239.58)轮回亲本(227.21)F6(220.03)BC3F3(190.91),其中BC3F3代极显著低于BC2F4,BC4F2代.筛选出的粳稻后代(白镰刀谷/合系353)是供试材料中含量最高的,达到1267.62±54.79mg/100g.     

Identifying neutral allele Sb at pollen-sterility loci in cultivated rice with Oryza rufipogon origin

Pollen sterility is commonly found in the intra-specific hybrids of indica and japonica rice, which is one of the main constrains for the utilization of heterosis between indica and japonica. Six loci controlling the pollen sterility of F1 between indica and japonica have been identified from previous studies. Neutral alleles at each locus are potential to overcome the F1 pollen sterility associated with the locus. Therefore, exploitation and utilization of neutral alleles are of significant importance. The present research was based on fine mapping of the F1 pollen-sterility gene Sb and the abundant genetic diversity of Oryza rufipogon Griff. indigenous to Gaozhou, Guangdong Province （referred to as Gaozhou wild rice）. Crosses were made using Taichung65 （with the genotype of Sb^jSb^j and referred to as El） and its near-isogenic line of F1 pollen sterility gene Sb（with the genotype of Sb^iSb^i, E2） as female parents, and 12 different accessions of Gaozhou wild rice as male parents. F1 pollen fertility was examined to identify the materials having the neutral alleles at the F1 pollen-sterility locus. Segregation of 4 molecular markers tightly linked with the Sb locus was analyzed in the F2 populations derived from the FlS carrying the neutral gene. The pollen fertility related to the 3 genotypes of the molecular markers was also checked by statistical test to determine whether it was consistent with the hypothesis. The results showed that the pollen fertility of two F1s from one accession of Gaozhou wild rice （GZW099） with E1 and E2 was （89.2±21.07）% and （85.65±1.05）%, respectively. Both of them were fertile and showed no significant difference by t-test. Segregation of the 3 genotypes of the 4 molecular markers followed the expected Mendelian ratio （1：2：1） in the F2 populations. There was no significant difference for the averaged pollen fertility of the plants related to the 3 genotypes, suggesting that no interaction exists between the alleles at the Sb locus in GZW099 and Taichung65 or E2. Evidentially, GZW099 carried the neutral gene （named Sb″Sb″） at the Sb locus, which provides valuable theoretical basis and resources for further studying and overcoming the sterility of indica-japonica hybrids.     

The characteristics of CO2 assimilation of photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence in transgenic PEPC rice

With PEPC, PPDK, NADP-ME and PEPC+ PPDK transgenic and untransformed rice (Orysa sativa L.), the activities of related C₄ photosynthesis enzymes, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, CO₂ exchange and other physiological indexes were compared, in which the physiological characteristics of PEPC transgenic rice were mainly studied. The results were as follows: (ⅰ) The activities of PEPC in PEPC transgenic rice were 20-fold higher than those in untransformed rice; the light-saturation photosynthetic rates and the carboxylation efficiency of PEPC transgenic rice were increased by 55% and 50% more than those of untransformed rice, respectively, while the CO₂ compensation point decreased by 27%. (ⅱ) The PSⅡ photochemical efficiency (F_v/F_m) and photochemical quenching (q_P) of transgenic PEPC rice decreased less in comparison with those of untransformed rice after the treatment with high light intensity (3 h) or methyl viologen (MV), a photooxidative reagent, which demonstrated that the tolerance of PEPC transgenic rice to photoinhibition and photooxidation was enhanced. (ⅲ) Under the condition of high light intensity, the activity of RuBPCase in PEPC transgenic rice did not obviously vary while the activity induced of carbonic anhydrase (CA) in PEPC transgenic rice increased by 1.8 fold. These results would provide some beneficial enlightment for revealing the mechanism of high photosynthetic efficiency and breeding with high photosynthetic efficiency in rice.     

Can transgenic rice cause ecological risks through transgene escape?

Alien transgene escape from genetically engineered rice to non-transgenic varieties or close wild relatives (including weedy rice) may lead to unpredictable ecological risks. However, for transgene escape to occur three conditions need to be met: (i) spatially, transgenic rice and its non-transgenic counterparts or wild relatives should have sympatric distributions; (ii) temporally, the flowering time of transgenic rice and the non-transgenic varieties or wild relatives should overlap; and (iii) biologically, transgenic rice and its wild relative species should have such a sufficiently close relationship that their interspecific hybrids can have normal generative reproduction. This paper presents research data on the geographic distribution, flowering habits, interspecific hybridization, and gene flow of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) and its closely related wild relatives containing the AA genome. The objective is to estimate the possibility of transgene escape to non-transgenic rice varieties and wild relatives of rice, which may result in unpredictable ecological risks.     

分子标记辅助选育含有抗稻瘟病基因和软米基因两系不育系水稻新品系

以"浦软粳S"为转育亲本,利用分子标记辅助常规育种技术成功培育出含有Pi9,Pita,Pib和Pigm稻瘟病抗性基因及软米基因(Wx~(mq)),同时表现柱头外露率高的两系不育系水稻新品系"2179S"."2179S"不育系茎秆粗壮,矮杆大穗,株高为63.8 cm,柱头外露率平均为60%.研究结果为今后培育具有稻瘟病抗性的优质两系杂交水稻新组合提供不育系亲本.