The influence of lox-sites of the Cre lox recombination system on promoterless bar gene expression in transgenic plants

Shcherbak N.L., Belokurova V.B., Getsko I.O., Komarnitsky I.K., Kuchuk N.V.

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We demonstrate that localization of lox site between the right border of T-DNA and promoterless bar gene (RB - lox - bar -) led to its highly efficient expression in transgenic plants of Nicotiana tabacum and N. africana.. Plasmid vectors used in gene integration experiments contained neomycin phosphotransferase II (npt II) gene under nos promoter as well. Transgenic plants were selected according to their capacity to grow on the medium with kanamycin and then they were tested on the selective medium containing phosphinothricin. 80 % of transgenic plants expressed bar gene at the level similar to that in plants transformed with the bar gene under widely used constitutive promoter. Transformation of plants with the plasmid vector containing only promoterless bar gene near T-DNA right border (RB– bar -) and with the vector containing lox site and promoterless bar gene in the middle of the construction (-lox-bar-) led to obtaining no more than 4,5 % of transgenic plants resistant to phosphinothricin. PCR analyses confirmed both the absence of tandem repeats and of plasmid recombination resulting in transference of bar gene under promoter in plasmid vector.. Nos-terminator situated between the lox site and the right border of T-DNA did not decrease bar gene expression.

Tsitologiya i Genetika 2006, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 3-9

Shcherbak N.L., Belokurova V.B., Getsko I.O., Komarnitsky I.K., Kuchuk N.V. The influence of lox-sites of the Cre lox recombination system on promoterless bar gene expression in transgenic plants, Tsitol Genet., 2006, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 3-9.