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Expression of a chimeric nitrate reductase gene in transgenic lettuce reduces nitrate in leaves

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Abstract

 Transgenic plants of four glasshouse-grown lettuce cultivars ('Cortina', 'Evola', 'Flora' and 'Luxor') were obtained by co-cultivating excised cotyledons with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 contained the binary vector pBCSL16, which carried a nitrate reductase (nia) cDNA linked to CaMV promoter and terminator sequences, and the neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene. Transformed shoots were selected by their ability to root on medium containing kanamycin sulphate, by a positive NPTII assay and by PCR analysis. The presence of the nia cDNA in transgenic lettuce was confirmed by nitrate reductase (NR) enzymatic assay, a reduction in the nitrate content of leaves and by Southern hybridisation. PCR analysis of cDNA fragments from transgenic plants confirmed that both nia and nptII genes were expressed in first seed-generation (T1) lettuce plants. The commercial importance of reduced nitrate concentrations in lettuce is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Science Division, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK e-mail: plzmrd@pln1.life.nottingham.ac.uk, Fax: +44–1159513251, , , , , , GB

    I. S. Curtis, J. B. Power & M. R. Davey

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Van der Have Research, NL-4410 AA Rilland, P.O. Box 1, The Netherlands, , , , , , NL

    A. M. M. de Laat

  3. Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78026 Versailles Cedex, France, , , , , , FR

    M. Caboche

Authors
  1. I. S. Curtis
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  2. J. B. Power
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  3. A. M. M. de Laat
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  4. M. Caboche
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  5. M. R. Davey
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Additional information

Received: 7 January 1998 / Revision received: 24 February 1998 / Accepted: 22 March 1999

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Curtis, I., Power, J., de Laat, A. et al. Expression of a chimeric nitrate reductase gene in transgenic lettuce reduces nitrate in leaves. Plant Cell Reports 18, 889–896 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050680

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050680

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