Abstract
In this paper we first review literature on the performance of various promoters in monocotyledonous species. In general, promoters isolated from monocots show a higher activity in monocot species. Moreover, the presence of an intron between the promoter and reporter gene increases transcription levels. We used the same approach to study gene expression in Liliaceae. The activities of the CaMV 35S, maize Adh1-based pEmu, rice Act1 and maize Ubi promoters, coupled to the β-glucuronidase (gus) reporter gene, were evaluated for transient gene expression upon particle bombardment of tissues of tobacco, rice, tulip, lily and leek. Although monocot promoters performed very well in rice tissues, the results of this study show that this cannot be generalized for other monocot species. The transcription inducing effects of monocot promoters were less pronounced or even absent in tissues of Liliaceae, while the presence of an intron between promoter and gus gene reduced promoter activity.
Abbreviations
- CaMV:
-
cauliflower mosaic virus
- Adh:
-
alcohol dehydrogenase
- Act :
-
actin
- Ubi :
-
ubiquitin
References
Callis J, Fromm M, Walbot V: Introns increase gene expression in cultured maize cells. Genes Devel 1: 1183–1200 (1987).
Christensen AH, Sharrock RA, Quail PH: Maize polyubiquitin genes: structure, thermal perturbation of expression and transcript splicing, and promoter activity following transfer to protoplasts by electroporation. Plant Mol Biol 18: 675–689 (1992).
Cornejo MJ, Luth D, Blankenship KM, Anderson OD, Blechl AE: Activity of a maize ubiquitin promoter in transgenic rice. Plant Mol Biol 23: 567–581 (1993).
Fennell A, Hauptmann R: Electroporation and PEG delivery of DNA into maize microspores. Plant Cell Rep 11: 567–570 (1992).
Gallo-Meagher M, Irvine JE: Effects of tissue type and promoter strength on transient GUS expression in sugarcane following particle bombardment. Plant Cell Rep 12: 666–670 (1993).
Goodall GJ, Filipowicz W: Different effects of intron nucleotide composition and secondary structure on pre-mRNA splicing in monocot and dicot plants. EMBO J 10: 2635–2644 (1991).
Jefferson RA, Kavanagh TA, Bevan MW: GUS fusions: β-glucuronidase as a sensitive and versatile gene fusion marker in higher plants. EMBO J 6: 3901–3907 (1987).
Keith B, Chua NH: Monocot and dicot pre-mRNA's are processed with different efficiencies in transgenic tobacco. EMBO J 5: 2419–2425 (1986).
Last DI, Brettell RIS, Chamberlain DA, Chaudhury AM, Larkin PJ, Marsh EL, Peacock WJ, Dennis ES. pEmu: an improved promoter for gene expression in cereal cells. Theor Appl Genet 81: 581–588 (1991).
Luehrsen KR, Walbot V: Intron enhancement of gene expression and the splicing efficiency of introns in maize cells. Mol Gen Genet 225: 81–93 (1991).
Maas C, Laufs J, Grant S, Korfhage C, Werr W: The combination of a novel stimulatory element in the first exon of the maize Shrunken-1 gene with the following intron 1 enhances reporter gene expression up to 1000-fold. Plant Mol Biol 16: 199–207 (1991).
Maas C, Schell J, Steinbiss HH: Applications of an optimized monocot expression vector in studying transient gene expression and stable transformation of barley. Physiol Plant 85: 367–373 (1992).
Mascarenhas D, Mettler IJ, Pierce DA, Lowe HW: Intron-mediated enhancement of heterologous gene expression in maize. Plant Mol Biol 15: 913–920 (1990).
McElroy D, Zhang W, Cao J, Wu R: Isolation of an efficient actin promoter for use in rice transformation. Plant Cell 2: 163–171 (1990).
McElroy D, Blowers AD, Jenes B, Wu R: Construction of expression vectors based on the rice actin 1 (Actl) 5′ region for use in monocot transformation. Mol Gen Genet 231: 150–160 (1991).
McElroy D, Brettell RIS: Foreign gene expression in transgenic cereals. Trends Biotechnol 12: 62–68 (1994).
Rathus C, Bower R, Birch R: Effects of promoter, intron and enhancer elements on transient gene expression in sugar-cane and carrot protoplasts. Plant Mol Biol 23: 613–618 (1993).
Schledzewski K, Mendel R: Quantitative transient gene expression: comparison of the promoters for maize polyubiquitin 1, rice actin 1, maize-derived Emu and CaMV 35S in cells of barley, maize and tobacco. Transgen Res 3: 249–255 (1994).
Tanaka A, Mita S, Ohta S, Kyozuka J, Shimamoto K, Nakamura K: Enhancement of foreign gene expression by a dicot intron in rice but not in tobacco is correlated with an increased level of mRNA and an efficient splicing of the intron. Nucl Acids Res 18: 6767–6770 (1990).
Taylor MG, Vasil V, Vasil IK: Enhanced GUS gene expression in cereal/grass cell suspensions and immature embryos using the maize ubiquitin-based plasmid pAHC25. Plant Cell Rep 12: 491–495 (1993).
Van derLeede-Plegt LM, van deVen BCE, Bino RJ, van deSalm TMP, vanTunen AJ: Introduction and differential use of various promoters in pollen grains of Nicotiana glutinosa and Lilium longiflorum. Plant Cell Rep 11: 20–24 (1992).
Vasil V, Clancy M, Ferl R, Vasil IK, Hannah LC: Increased gene expression by the first intron of maize shrunken-1 locus in grass species. Plant Physiol 91: 1575–1579 (1989).
Wilmink A, van deVen BCE, Dons JJM: Expression of the GUS-gene in the monocot tulip after introduction by particle bombardment and Agrobacterium. Plant Cell Rep 11: 76–80 (1992).
Zhang W, McElroy D, Wu R: Analysis of rice Actl 5′ region activity in transgenic rice plants. Plant Cell 3: 1155–1165 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilmink, A., van de Ven, B.C.E. & Dons, J.J.M. Activity of constitutive promoters in various species from the Liliaceae. Plant Mol Biol 28, 949–955 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042079
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042079