Summary
TherolD gene fromAgrobacterium rhizogenes has recently been shown to induce striking precocity of flowering in transgenic tobacco. A transcriptional fusion between 578 bp of therolD upstream regulating sequence and the GUS reporter gene has been transferred to tobacco plants and its expression analysed throughout the whole life cycle of the plant. A detailed histological analysis revealed thatrolD is strongly expressed in elongating and differentiating tissues of each organ, from the mature embryo to the adult plant. In organs with determinate growth, such as cotyledons, leaves and floral parts,rolD expression follows the age gradient of the tissues. In mature tissues,rolD expression is high, begins to decrease with ageing and is switched off when senescence occurs.RolD is also active in the vascular system, in the procambium, pith- and receptacular-meristems. Our data show that expression ofrolD is under developmental control as it correlates with, and may represent a molecular marker for, the elongation/expansion and maturation phases of the plant tissues.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- PCR:
-
polymerase chain reaction
- GUS:
-
β-glucuronidase
- X-Gluc:
-
5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-glucuronide
- SE:
-
standard error
- NT:
-
transcriptional terminator of the Nopaline synthase gene
- NOS-pro:
-
promoter of the Nopaline synthase gene
- NPT II:
-
Neomicine phosphotransferase II gene
- LB:
-
left border
- RB:
-
right border
- LS:
-
longitudinal sections
- TS:
-
transversal sections
References
Altamura MM, Archilletti T, Capone I, Costantino P (1991) Histological analysis of the expression ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes rolB-GUS gene fusions in transgenic tobacco. New Phytol 118: 69–78
Avery GS (1933a) Structure and developmental anatomy of the seedling plant. Am J Bot 20: 309–327
— (1933b) Structure and development of the tobacco leaf. Am J Bot 20: 565–592
Barry GF, Rogers DA, Fraley RT, Brand L (1984) Identification of a cloned cytokinin biosynthetic gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81: 4776–4780
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for quantification of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72: 248–254
Capone I, Spanó L, Cardarelli M, Bellincampi D, Petit A, Costantino P (1989) Induction and growth properties of carrot roots with different complements ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes T-DNA. Plant Mol Biol 13:43–52
—, Cardarelli M, Mariotti D, Pomponi M, De Paolis A, Costantino P (1991) Different promoter regions control level and tissue specificity of expression ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes rolB gene in plants. Plant Mol Biol 16: 427–436
—, Frugis G, Costantino P, Cardarelli M (1994) Expression in different populations of cells of the root meristem is controlled by different domains of therolB promoter. Plant Mol Biol 25: 681–691
Cardarelli M, Mariotti D, Pomponi M, Spane L, Capone I, Costantino P (1987)Agrobacterium rhizogenes T-DNA genes capable of inducing hairy root phenotype. Mol Gen Genet 209: 475–480
De Block M, Debrouer D (1992) In situ enzyme histochemistry on plastic-embedded plant material. The development of an artefact-free β-glucuronidase assay. Plant J 2: 261–266
Esau K (1965) Plant anatomy. Wiley, New York
Fahn A (1990) Plant anatomy, 4th edn. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Guivarc'h A, Carneiro M, Vilaine F, Pautot V, Chriqui D (1996) Tissue-specific expression of therolA gene mediates morphological changes in transgenic tobacco. Plant Mol Biol 30: 125–134
Hemerly AS, Ferreira P, De Almeida-Engler J, Van Montagu M, Engler J, Inzé D (1993) Cdc2a expression in Arabidopsis is linked with competence for cell division. Plant Cell 5: 1711–1723
Inzé D, Follin A, Van Lijsebettens M, Simoens C, Genetello C, Van Montagu M, Schell J (1984) Genetic analysis of the individual T-DNA genes ofAgrobacterium tumefaciens further evidence that two genes are involved in indol-3-acetic acid synthesis. Mol Gen Genet 194: 265–274
Jefferson RA, Kavanagh TA, Bevan MW (1987) GUS fusions: β-glucuronidase as a sensitive and versatile gene fusion marker in higher plants. EMBO J 6: 3901–3907
Kinet J-M, Sachs RM, Bernier G (1985) The physiology of flowering, vol 3. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Leach F, Aoyagi K (1991) Promoter analysis of the highly expressedrolC androlD root-inducing genes ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes: enhancer and tissue-specific DNA determinants are dissociated. Plant Sci 79: 69–76
Maliga PA, Sz-Breznovits A, Marton L (1973) Streptomycin-resistant plants from callus culture of haploid tobacco. Nature New Biol 24: 29–30
Mauro ML, Trovato M, De Paolis A, Gallelli A, Costantino P, Altamura MM (1996) The plant oncogenerolD stimulates flowering in transgenic tobacco plants. Dev Biol 180: 693–700
Poethig RM, Sussex IM (1985) The developmental morphology and growth dynamics of the tobacco leaf. Planta 165: 158–169
Schmülling T, Schell J, Spena A (1988) Single genes fromAgrobacterium rhizogenes influence plant development. EMBO J 7: 2621–2629
— — — (1989) Promoters of therolA, B andC genes ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes are differentially regulated in transgenic plants. Plant Cell 1: 665–670
Sinkar VP, Pythoud F, White FH, Nester EW, Gordon MP (1988)rolA locus of the Ri plasmid directs developmental abnormalities. Genes Dev 2: 688–697
Slightom JL, Durand-Tardif M, Jouanin L, Tepfer D (1986) Nucleotide sequence analysis ofAgrobaterium rhizogenes agropine type plasmid: identification of open-reading frames. J Biol Chem 261: 108–121
Spena A, Schmülling T, Koncz C, Schell J (1987) Independent and synergistic activity ofrolA, B andC in stimulating abnormal growth in plants. EMBO J 6: 3891–3899
Sugaya S, Hayakawa K, Handa T, Uchimiya H (1989) Cell-specific expression of therolC gene of T-DNA of Ri plasmid in transgenic tobacco plants. Plant Cell Physiol 30: 649–653
Van Steveninck RFM (1976) Cellular differentiation, aging and ion transport. In: Lüttge V, Pitman MG (eds) Transport in plants II, part B, tissues and organs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo, pp 343–371 [Pirson A, Zimmermann MH (eds) Encyclopedia of plant physiology, vol 2B]
Villaine F, Charbonnier C, Casse-Delbart F (1987) Further insight concerning the TL region of the Ri plasmidAgrobacterium rhizogenes strain A4: transfer of a 1.9 kb fragment is sufficient to induce transformed roots on tobacco leaf fragments. Mol Gen Genet 210: 111–115
White FF, Taylor BH, Huffman GA, Gordon MP, Nester EW (1985) Molecular and genetic analysis of the transferred DNA regions of the root inducing plasmid ofAgrobacterium rhizogenes. J Bacteriol 164: 33–44
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trovato, M., Mauro, M.L., Costantino, P. et al. TherolD gene fromAgrobacterium rhizogenes is developmentally regulated in transgenic tobacco. Protoplasma 197, 111–120 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279889
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279889