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A Phosphate Transporter Promoter from Arabidopsis thaliana AtPHT1;4 Gene Drives Preferential Gene Expression in Transgenic Maize Roots Under Phosphorus Starvation

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) stress responsive genes have been identified and characterized, including the high-affinity phosphate transporter AtPHT1;4 from Arabidopsis thaliana. This gene encodes a membrane protein that is primarily expressed in roots under phosphorus deficiency. A 2.3-kb promoter region from AtPHT1;4 has been fused with the β-glucuronidase (GUS) encoding gene and introduced into maize via biolistic bombardment to evaluate its spatiotemporal activity in a heterologous system. AtPHT1;4::GUS expression is detected preferentially in transgenic maize roots under P deficiency. Further analysis of transgenic plants has also revealed that GUS activity is higher in roots than in leaves by about sixfold. These results demonstrate the ability of AtPHT1;4 promoter to direct expression of the reporter gene in a monocot root system under P stress. This property of AtPHT1;4 promoter makes it useful to engineer maize plants to modify the soil’s rhizosphere and increase efficiency of P acquisition under P stress conditions.

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Acknowledgments

R. Diniz is gratefully acknowledged for technical assistance. This research was partially conducted with resources of the project “New approach for improving phosphorus acquisition and aluminum tolerance of plants in marginal soils” funded by the Mc Knight Foundation and grant by “Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais” (Fapemig). GTCP and RLB have fellowships from the “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior” (CAPES) and from “Conselho Regional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico” (CNPq), respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fisiologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Lavras—UFLA, CP 3037, 37200-000, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Gracielle T. C. P. Coelho, Rosangela L. Brandão & Luciano V. Paiva

  2. Embrapa Milho e Sorgo, CP 151 and 285, 35701-970, Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Newton P. Carneiro, Robert E. Schaffert, Isabel R. P. Souza, Vera M. Alves, Anderson Imolesi, Carlos H. S. Carvalho & Andréa A. Carneiro

  3. Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-1165, USA

    Athikkattuvalasu S. Karthikeyan & Kaschandra G. Raghothama

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  1. Gracielle T. C. P. Coelho
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  2. Newton P. Carneiro
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  3. Athikkattuvalasu S. Karthikeyan
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  4. Kaschandra G. Raghothama
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  5. Robert E. Schaffert
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  6. Rosangela L. Brandão
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  7. Luciano V. Paiva
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  8. Isabel R. P. Souza
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  9. Vera M. Alves
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  10. Anderson Imolesi
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  11. Carlos H. S. Carvalho
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  12. Andréa A. Carneiro
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Correspondence to Andréa A. Carneiro.

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Coelho, G.T.C.P., Carneiro, N.P., Karthikeyan, A.S. et al. A Phosphate Transporter Promoter from Arabidopsis thaliana AtPHT1;4 Gene Drives Preferential Gene Expression in Transgenic Maize Roots Under Phosphorus Starvation. Plant Mol Biol Rep 28, 717–723 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-010-0199-8

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