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Upstream sequences determine the difference in transcript abundance of pea rbcS genes

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Summary

A system was developed for the quantitative analysis of transcript levels in transgenic plants. It makes use of a T-DNA vector containing the intact pea rbcS-3A gene as a reference gene. At 5 kb distance from the reference gene a pseudo wild-type rbcS-3A gene was inserted with a 3′ tail derived from the related rbcS-E9 gene. Transcript levels varied between plants but the two genes were similarly affected in all cases. Analysis of chimeric genes between rbcS-3A and rbcS-E9 demonstrated that sequences upstream of — 50 are responsible for the differences in transcript abundance between the two genes. A comparison between the rbcS-3A and 3C genes showed that unlike the situation in pea, in tobacco the rbcS-3C gene is two- to threefold more highly expressed than rbcS-3A.

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Communicated by R.B. Goldberg

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Kuhlemeier, C., Fluhr, R. & Chua, NH. Upstream sequences determine the difference in transcript abundance of pea rbcS genes. Mol Gen Genet 212, 405–411 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330843

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