Expression of RNA-Interference/Antisense Transgenes by the Cognate Promoters of Target Genes Is a Better Gene-Silencing Strategy to Study Gene Functions in Rice
Figure 4
Similar and different growth/developmental defects in pOsPDK::OsPDK-antisense transgenic plants.
A. Phenotypic comparison between a representative pOsPDK1::OsPDK1-antisense transgenic line (indicated by black arrow) and the wild-type control (Ctrl) of the same developmental age (booting stage). B. Phenotypic comparison between a representative pOsPDK2::OsPDK2-antisense transgenic line (indicated by black arrow) and the wild-type control (Ctrl) of the same developmental age (booting stage). C–E. RT-PCR analysis of the transcript abundance of the endogenous OsPDK1 and OsPDK2 genes in various pUbi/pOsPDK::OsPDK-antisense transgenic plants. Equal amounts of total RNAs isolated from the wild-type control (Ctrl) and selected transgenic plants were converted into 1st cDNAs. Half microliter of the resulting 1st-strand cDNAs was used as templates for PCR-amplification using gene-specific primers (see Materials and Methods for details) of the transcripts of the endogenous OsPDK1 (C plus lanes 1 and 2 in E) and OsPDK2 (D plus lanes 3 and 4 in E) genes. RT-PCR analysis of the rice β-actin gene (the lower strip in each panel) was used as a control.