Abstract
We generated transgenic tobacco and rice plants harboring a chimeric gene consisting of the 5′-upstream sequence of the rice metallothionein gene (ricMT) fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene. The activity and tissue-specific expression of the ricMT promoter were demonstrated in these transgenic plants. In the transgenic rice plants, despite substantial levels of GUS activity in the shoot and root, almost no GUS signal was detected in the endosperm. Thus, the ricMT promoter could be useful in avoiding accumulation of undesired proteins in the seed endosperm.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Buchanan-Wollaston V (1994) Isolation of cDNA clones for genes that are expressed during leaf senescence in Brassica napus. Plant Physiol 105:839–846
Carter AD, Felber BK, Walling MJ, Jubier MF, Schmidt CJ, Hamer DH (1984) Duplicated heavy metal control sequences of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81:7392–7396
Chernaik ML, Huang PC (1991) Differential effect of cysteine-to-serine substitutions in metallothionein on cadmium resistance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:3024–3028
Choi D, Kim HM, Yun HK, Park JA, Kim WT, Bok SH (1996) Molecular cloning of a metallothionein-like gene from Nicotiana glutinosa L. and its induction by wounding and tobacco mosaic virus infection. Plant Physiol 112:353–359
Coupe SA, Taylor JE, Roberts JA (1995) Characterization of an mRNA encoding a metallothionein-like protein that accumulates during ethylene-promoted abscission of Sambucus nigra L. leaflets. Planta 197:442–447
Foley RC, Singh KB (1994) Isolation of a Vicia faba metallothionein-like gene: expression in foliar trichomes. Plant Mol Biol 26:435–444
Fukuzawa H, Arai S, Kawai YM, Das A, Tagawa M, Uchimiya H (2002) Glufosinate-tolerant tobacco plants directed by promoter of adenylate kinase gene of rice. Ann Bot 89:351–354
Fürst P, Hu S, Hackett R, Hamer D (1988) Copper activates metallothionein gene transcription by altering the conformation of a specific DNA binding protein. Cell 55:705–717
Hihara Y, Hara C, Uchimiya H (1996) Isolation and characterization of two cDNA clones for mRNAs that are abundantly expressed in immature anthers of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant Mol Biol 30:1181–1193
Horsch RB, Rogers SG, Fraley RT (1985) Transgenic plants. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 50:433–437
Hsieh HM, Liu WK, Huang PC (1995) A novel stress-inducible metallothionein-like gene from rice. Plant Mol Biol 28:381–389
Hudspeth RL, Hobbs SL, Anderson DM, Rajasekaran K, Grula JW (1996) Characterization and expression of metallothionein-like genes in cotton. Plant Mol Biol 31:701–705
Jefferson RA, Kavanagh TA, Bevan MW (1987) GUS fusions: beta-glucuronidase as a sensitive and versatile gene fusion marker in higher plants. EMBO J 6:3901–3907
Karin M, Haslinger A, Holtgreve H, Richards RI, Krauter P, Westphal HM, Beato M (1984) Characterization of DNA sequences through which cadmium and glucocorticoid hormones induce human metallothionein-IIA gene. Nature 308:513–519
Kägi JHR, Schäffer A (1988) Biochemistry of metallothionein. Biochemistry 27:8509–8515
Margoshes M, Vallee BL (1957) A cadmium protein from equine kidney cortex. J Am Chem Soc 79:4813–4814
Pan L, Kawai M, Yano A, Uchimiya H (2000) Nucleoside diphosphate kinase required for coleoptile elongation in rice. Plant Physiol 122:447–452
Pulido P, Kägi JHR, Vallee BL (1966) Isolation and some properties of human metallothionein. Biochemistry 5:1768–1777
Robinson NJ, Wilson JR, Turner JS (1996) Expression of the type 2 metallothionein-like gene MT2 from Arabidopsis thaliana in Zn2+-metallothionein-deficient Synechococcus PCC7942: putative role for MT2 in Zn2+ metabolism. Plant Mol Biol 30:1169–1179
Snowden KC, Richards KD, Gardner RC (1995) Aluminum-induced genes. Plant Physiol 107:341–348
Stuart GW, Searle PF, Chen HY, Brinster RL, Palmiter RD (1984) A 12-base-pair DNA motif that is repeated several times in metallothionein gene promoters confers metal regulation to a heterologous gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81:7318–7322
Sugaya S, Hayakawa K, Handa T, Uchimiya H (1989) Cell-specific expression of the rolC gene of the TL-DNA of Ri plasmid in transgenic tobacco plants. Plant Cell Physiol 30:649–653
Tsunoo H, Kino K, Nakajima H, Hata A, Huang I, Yoshida A (1978) Mouse liver metallothioneins. Purification, molecular weight, amino acid composition, and metal content. J Biol Chem 253:4172–4174
Wagner DB, Furnier GR, Saghai-Maroof MA, Williams SM, Dancik BP, Allard RW (1987) Chloroplast DNA polymorphisms in lodgepole and jack pines and their hybrids. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:2097–2100
Winge DR, Miklossy KA (1982) Domain nature of metallothionein. J Biol Chem 257:3471–3476
Yu LH, Liu JY, Umeda M, Uchimiya H (1998a) Molecular characterization of metallothionein genes in plants. Plant Biotechnol 15:167–172
Yu LH, Umeda M, Liu JY, Zhao NM, Uchimiya H (1998b) A novel MT gene of rice plants is strongly expressed in the node portion of the stem. Gene 206:29–35
Yu LH, Liu JY, Umeda M, Uchimiya H, Zhao NM (2000) Cloning and sequence characteristics of the genomic gene of a rice metallothionein. Chin Sci Bull 45:153–155
Zhou J, Goldsbrough PB (1995) Structure, organization and expression of the metallothionein gene family in Arabidopsis. Mol Gen Genet 248:318–328
Zhou PB, Thiele DJ (1991) Isolation of a metal-activated transcription factor gene from Candida glabrata by complementation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:6112–6116
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by H. Ebinuma
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fukuzawa, H., Yu, LH., Umeda-Hara, C. et al. The rice metallothionein gene promoter does not direct foreign gene expression in seed endosperm. Plant Cell Rep 23, 231–235 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-004-0813-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-004-0813-z