The introduction and expression of transgenes in plants

Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Volumn 9, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 227-232

  Gelvin, Stanton B ^a  

^a PURDUE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DNA;

CROP; DNA INTEGRATION; GENE EXPRESSION; GENE TRANSFER; NONHUMAN; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY; REVIEW; TRANSGENE; TRANSGENIC PLANT; TRANSPOSON;

EMBRYOPHYTA;

EID: 0031898173     PISSN: 09581669     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0958-1669(98)80120-1     Document Type: Article

References (36)

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6. Hansen G, Chilton M-D. 'Agrolistic' transformation of plant cells: integration of T-strands generated in planta. of outstanding interest Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 93:1996;14978-14983 This paper describes a novel plant transformation technology. The authors introduce into tobacco, on separate plasmids, genes encoding VirD1 and VirD2 proteins (each under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter), and a plasmid containing a nos-nptll gene within T-DNA borders. They select kanamycin-resistant cells and show that, in many instances, the selectable marker gene integrates into the plant genome using the T-DNA borders. DNA sequence analysis of several T-DNA-plant DNA junctions recovered from these transgenic plants indicates that VirD1 and VirD2 proteins correctly nick the T-DNA border sequences in the plant between nucleotides three and four of the 25 bp border repeat sequence.
7. of outstanding interest Hansen G, Shillito RD, Chilton M-D. T-strand integration in maize protoplasts after codelivery of a T-DNA substrate and virulence genes. of special interest Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 94:1997;11726-11730 This paper extends the work of Hansen [6] by showing that the 'agrolistic' technology can work in transformed maize cells.
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12. Kononov ME, Bassuner B, Gelvin SB. Integration of T-DNA binary vector 'backbone' sequences into the tobacco genome: evidence for multiple complex patterns of integration. of outstanding interest Plant J. 11:1997;945-957 This paper analyzes in depth the integration of T-DNA binary vector 'backbone' sequences into the genome of tobacco. The authors placed a nosnptll gene into the T-DNA, and a gusA gene outside the T-DNA in the vector 'backbone'. Approximately 75% of the resulting kanamycin-resistant plants also contained gusA gene sequences. DNA blot analyses indicated that the vector 'backbone' sequences could be integrated into the tobacco genome linked to the T-DNA through either the left or right borders, or could independently integrate into tobacco DNA unlinked to the T-DNA.
13. Goldsbrough AP, Lastrella CN, Yoder JI. Transposition mediated repositioning and subsequent elimination of marker genes from transgenic tomato. Bio/Technology. 11:1993;1286-1292.
14. Ebinuma H, Sugita K, Matsunaga E, Yamakado M. Selection of marker-free transgenic plants using the isopentenyl transferase gene. of outstanding interest Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 94:1997;2117-2121 This paper describes a novel technology for generating transgenic plants lacking a selectable marker gene. The authors use an ipt gene (encoding an enzyme for cytokinin production), rather than an antibiotic or herbicide resistance gene, as a selectable marker for transformation. Transgenic plants show an 'extreme shooty' phenotype and cannot root. The ipt gene is placed within an Ac transposable element. If Ac excises and does not reintegrate into the plant genome, normal plants develop from the 'extreme shooty' tissue. Thus, the selectable marker gene is lost. Loss of the selectable marker eliminates problems associated with potential marker toxicity (both to the plant during selection and to animals that may eat the plant), allows the plant to be recurrently transformed without necessitating the use of multiple different markers, and selects for plants containing a single T-DNA insert.
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18. Mlynarova L, Jansen RC, Conner AJ, Stiekema WJ, Nap J-P. The MAR-mediated reduction in position effect can be uncoupled from copy number-dependent expression in transgenic plants. Plant Cell. 7:1995;599-609.
19. Mlynarova L, Keizer LCP, Stiekema WJ, Nap J-P. Approaching the lower limits of transgene variability. of outstanding interest Plant Cell. 8:1996;1589-1599 The authors show in this paper that when a marker gene within a T-DNA is flanked by the chicken lysozyme MAR, the variability in transgene expression is greatly reduced, but not eliminated. The degree of variability, however, is the same as that for genetically identical plants. Thus, flanking the transgene with these MARs reduces transgene expression variability to that caused by environmental (or experimental) factors, and virtually eliminates 'position effect' variation.
20. Van der Geest AHM, Hall GE, Spiker S, Hall TC. The β-phaseolin gene is flanked by matrix attachment regions. Plant J. 6:1994;413-423.
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22. of special interest De Neve M, De Buck S, Jacobs A, Van Montagu M, Depicker A. T-DNA integration patterns in co-transformed plant cells suggest that T-DNA repeats originate from co-integration of separate T-DNAs. of outstanding interest Plant J. 11:1997;15-29 The authors transform Nicotiana and Arabidopsis cells with two Agrobacterium strains harboring binary T-DNA vectors containing two different selectable markers. Following selection of cells resistant to both markers, they show that approximately one half of these lines contain both T-DNA molecules linked to each other. Although all combinations of linkages were detected, linkages involving at least one T-DNA right border were prevalent. The authors suggest that T-DNA molecules, made double-stranded after the transfer of single-stranded T-strands to the nucleus, link together either extrachromosomally or during the integration process. This model differs from that of Tinland 1996 [24] who favors integration of single-stranded T-DNA molecules into the plant chromosome by strand invasion.
23. Narasimhulu SB, Deng X-B, Sarria R, Gelvin SB. Early transcription of Agrobacterium T-DNA genes in tobacco and maize. of special interest Plant Cell. 8:1996;873-886 This report analyzes the very early events following T-DNA transfer from Agrobacterium to tobacco and maize cells. Using RT-PCR, the authors could detect the expression of a T-DNA-encoded gusA-intron gene within 18 hours after infection. Infection of tobacco cells with an avirulent Agrobacterium strain harboring a mutation in the ω domain of virD2 still resulted in high transient levels of processed gusA transcript, suggesting the the ω domain of VirD2 may be involved in T-DNA integration into the plant genome. The infection of maize BMS cells with wild-type Agrobacterium strains resulted in only transient expression of the gusA transcript, suggesting that with this infection protocol, the maize cells were recalcitrant to stable T-DNA expression and/or integration.
24. Tinland B. The integration of T-DNA into plant genomes. of special interest Trends Plant Sci. 1:1996;178-184 This review presents a model of T-DNA integration into plant DNA. The author proposes that strand-invasion of the single-stranded T-strand into regions of microhomology with the 3′ end of the T-DNA initiates the integration process.
25. Jorgensen RA, Cluster PD, English J, Que Q, Napoli CA. Chalcone synthase cosuppression phenotypes in petunia flowers: comparison of sense vs. antisense constructs and single-copy vs. complex T-DNA sequences. of outstanding interest Plant Mol Biol. 31:1996;957-973 The authors follow the flower pigmentation patterns of a large number of independent Petunia plants transformed with sense or anti-sense chalcone synthase transgenes. Pigmentation patterns of many sense-suppressed plants (co-suppression) are novel and are not seen in anti-sense plants. The copy number and organization of the sense transgene, and not the position of the gene in the genome, appeared to be the primary determinant of the pattern of pigment suppression. In particular, inverted repeat conformations of the T-DNA resulted in unusual, disordered forms of pigmentation patterns.
26. Cluster PD, O'Dell M, Metzlaff M, Flavell RB. Details of T-DNA exhibiting co-suppression. of special interest Plant Mol Biol. 32:1996;1197-1203 These authors studied flower pigmentation patterns of transgenic Petunia containing single or multiple copies of sense chalcone synthase genes. They also concluded that the copy number and organization patterns of the transgenes, and not the position of integration into the genome, was the major factor determining co-suppression patterns of flower pigmentation.
27. Van Houdt H, Ingelbrecht I, Van Montagu M, Depicker A. Post-transcriptional silencing of a neomycin phosphotransferase II transgene correlates with the accumulation of unproductive RNAs and with increased cytosine methylation of 3′ flanking regions. of special interest Plant J. 12:1997;379-392 These authors investigated suppression of nptll transcript levels in transgenic tobacco. They conclude that sense suppression depends upon particular 'silencing loci' containing the nptll transgenes. Silencing correlates both with reduced NPTII protein, nptll mRNA ratios, and with extensive cytosine methylation of particular sites in the 3′ region of the transgene coding sequence.
28. Stam M, de Bruin R, Kenter S, van der Hoorn RAL, van Blokland R, Mol JNM, Kooter JM. Post-transcriptional silencing of chalcone synthase in Petunia by inverted transgene repeats. of outstanding interest Plant J. 12:1997;63-82 The authors show that, using particular constructions, post-transcriptional silencing of the Petunia chalcone synthase gene depends upon an inverted repeat conformation of the T-DNA. Single copy T-DNA inserts do not silence the endogenous gene. Silencing does not require transcription of the transgene, as promoterless chalcone synthase genes in inverted repeat conformation also co-suppress the endogenous gene. The authors suggest that ectopic pairing of the transgene with the endogenous gene results in the production of aberrant RNAs from the endogenous gene, causing the co-suppression phenomenon.
29. Chan M-T, Lee T-M, Chang H-H. Transformation of Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Plant Cell Rep. 33:1992;577-583.
30. Hiei Y, Ohta S, Komari T, Kumashiro T. Efficient transformation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) mediated by Agrobacterium and sequence analysis of the boundaries of the T-DNA. Plant J. 6:1994;271-282.
31. Dong J, Teng W, Buchholz WG, Hall TC. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Javanica rice. of special interest Mol Breed. 2:1996;267-276 This is the first report of the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Javanica cultivars of rice that are grown in the United States. The authors conducted DNA blot and genetic analyses to confirm that the plants were transformed.
32. Rashid H, Yokoi S, Toriyama K, Hinata K. Transgenic plant production mediated by Agrobacterium in Indica rice. Plant Cell Rep. 15:1996;727-730.
33. Ishida Y, Saito H, Ohta S, Hiei Y, Komari T, Kumashiro T. High efficiency transformation of maize (Zea mays L.) mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. of outstanding interest Nat Biotechnol. 14:1996;745-750 This paper reports the first efficient transformation and regeneration of maize by Agrobacterium. Using a 'super' binary vector (containing additional copies of the virB, virC, and virG genes), the authors were able to transform the inbred line A188 (and hybrids in which A188 was one parent) with an efficiency of 5-30%. The authors confirmed their results using DNA blot and genetic segregation analysis, and also sequenced several T-DNA-plant DNA junctions from the transformants.
34. Tingay S, McElroy D, Kalla R, Fieg S, Wang M, Thornton S, Brettell R. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated barley transformation. of outstanding interest Plant J. 11:1997;1369-1376 This paper reports the first successful Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration of barley. The efficiency of transformation was relatively high (4.2% of the inoculated embryos resulted in the regeneration of transgenic barley), and 16 out of 18 of these plants were fully fertile. Segregation of the marker genes bar and gusA was Mendelian in the majority of transgenic lines.
35. Miao Z-H, Lam E. Targeted disruption of the TGA3 locus in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J. 7:1995;359-365.
36. Kempin SA, Liljegren SJ, Block LM, Rounsley SD, Yanofsky MF, Lam E. Targeted disruption in Arabidopsis. of outstanding interest Nature. 389:1997;802-803 This paper reports the targeted disruption of the AGL5 MADS-box gene in Arabidopsis thaliana by homologous recombination. One in 750 kanamycin-resistant transgenic plants that were targeted by a T-DNA binary vector containing a nptll gene within the AGL5 sequence showed integration of the transgene by homologous recombination. This paper shown that relatively efficient targeted gene disruption can be affected in plants, and boosts Arabidopsis to the enviable position as the only higher eukaryote in which both gene disruption by homologous recombination and large-scale random mutagenesis are possible.