Summary
The Serratia marcescens chiA gene encodes a secreted chitinase activity which contributes to the fungal growth inhibition exhibited by this bacterium. The coding region from the chiA gene was fused to the promoter and 3′ polyadenylation region of the Agrobacterium nopaline synthase gene. Site-directed mutagenesis of specific nucleotides surrounding the initiating AUG of the coding sequence of this chimeric gene resulted in up to an eight-fold increase in the amount of chitinase protein detected in transformed plant tissue. Analysis of the chiA mRNA indicated that these nucleotides also affected mRNA levels. At least 50% of the chitinase protein produced in transformed tobacco cells was the same molecular weight as the S. marcescen secreted protein.
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Communicated by J. Schell
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Taylor, J.L., Jones, J.D.G., Sandler, S. et al. Optimizing the expression of chimeric genes in plant cells. Mol Gen Genet 210, 572–577 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327214