© 2004 Oxford University Press
Expression Analysis of the NgORF13 Promoter during the Development of Tobacco Genetic Tumors
1 Faculty of Science, Japan Women’s University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8681 Japan
2 Department of Biology, Graduated School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153 Japan
3 Plant Science Center, RIKEN, 230-0045 Yokohama, Japan
We investigated the expression pattern of the promoter of Nicotiana glauca (Ng) ORF13 in the hybrids between N. glauca and N. langsdorffii harboring the NgORF13-ß-glucuronidase (GUS) chimeric gene. The promoter of NgORF13 of N. glauca had lower activities than the promoter of RiORF13 of Agrobacterium rhizogenes agropine-type root-inducing (Ri) plasmid. However, the localization of GUS activity in the NgORF13 transgenic plants was similar to that in the RiORF13 transgenic plants. The GUS activity of NgORF13-GUS was high in genetic tumors cultured in vitro or developed spontaneously on F1 plants with aging or by wounding. The GUS activity in tumors was observed in bud primordia, vascular bundles and leaves in the buds. While the activity was lower than in tumors, NgORF13-GUS was also expressed in vascular bundles and the parenchymatous tissues in plants regenerated from tumors. Furthermore, the promoter activity of NgORF13 was induced by wounding and activated by exogenous application of methyl jasmonate. During tumorization, NgORF13 was induced at an early stage and showed expression patterns similar to both NgrolB and NgrolC whose expression were investigated by Nagata et al. (1996) Plant Cell Physiol. 37: 489–498. It is thought that Ngrol genes might be involved in the formation of genetic tumors, and, moreover, NgORF13 might work in cooperation with NgrolB and NgrolC.
4 Corresponding author: E-mail, udagawa{at}psc.riken.go.jp; Fax, +81-45-503-9573.