Abstract
Antibiotic-resistance genes of bacterial origin are invaluable markers for plant genetic engineering. However, these genes are feared to pose possible risk to human health by horizontal gene transfer from transgenic plants to bacteria, potentially resulting in antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria; this is a considerable regulatory concern in some countries. The Atwbc19 gene, encoding an Arabidopsis thaliana ATP-binding cassette transporter, has been reported to confer resistance to kanamycin specifically as an alternative to bacterial antibiotic-resistance genes. In this report, we transformed hybrid aspen (Populus canescens × P. grandidentata) with the Atwbc19 gene. Unlike Atwbc19-transgenic tobacco that was only resistant to kanamycin, the transgenic Populus plants also showed resistance to three other aminoglycoside antibiotics (neomycin, geneticin, and paromomycin) at comparable levels to plants containing a CaMV35S-nptII cassette. Although it is unknown why the transgenic Populus with the Atwbc19 gene is resistant to all aminoglycoside antibiotics tested, the broad utility of the Atwbc19 gene as a reporter gene is confirmed here in a second dicot species. Because the Atwbc19 gene is plant-ubiquitous, it might serve as an alternative selectable marker to current bacterial antibiotic-resistance marker genes and alleviate the potential risk for horizontal transfer of bacterial-resistance genes in transgenic plants.
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported in part by the DOE-Bioenergy Science Center grant to ZMC and The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. by the Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement No. GO12026 to ZMC, and by the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station. The BioEnergy Science Center is a U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. This support does not constitute an endorsement by the DOE or by The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. of the views expressed in this publication.
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Communicated by S. Merkle.
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Kang, Bg., Ye, X., Osburn, L.D. et al. Transgenic hybrid aspen overexpressing the Atwbc19 gene encoding an ATP-binding cassette transporter confers resistance to four aminoglycoside antibiotics. Plant Cell Rep 29, 643–650 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0850-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0850-8