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Isolation and Functional Analysis of the Poplar RbcS Gene Promoter

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Abstract

A tissue-specific promoter, Pt-RbcS, from Populus was isolated and cloned based on alignment of AtRBCS-2B cDNA with genomic Populus sequences. Sequence analysis of Pt-RbcS revealed cis-acting regulatory elements in the promoter region, including an ATCT-motif, BoxI, GAG-motif, I-box, G-box, BoxII, GATA-motif, and TCT-motif, which are involved in light responses. In transgenic tobacco lines carrying the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene driven by the Pt-RbcS promoter, GUS expression was detected in leaves and stems, but not in roots. Transgenic poplar lines harboring constructs carrying the GUS gene driven by truncated Pt-RbcS promoters revealed distinctive expression patterns for five different promoter constructs. The Pt-RbcS promoter was expressed preferentially in photosynthetic tissues such as leaves and stems. Moreover, deletion analysis of the 1,547 bp Pt-RbcS promoter region revealed that a 927-bp DNA segment is critical for expression of Pt-RbcS in green tissues. Overall, our study suggests that the Pt-RbcS promoter from Populus could be applied to genetically improve the photosynthetic efficiency of woody plants.

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Abbreviations

RbcS :

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit

GUS:

β-glucuronidase

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National 863 Program of China (No. 2011AA100201), the National Science Foundation of China (No. 31170561), the National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding and Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education (No. FOP 2010-8), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Forest Resources and Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Like Wang, Lisha Li, Lina Xu, Jie Zhou, Huihui Zhuang, Xidong Gong, Mingxiu Wang & Qiang Zhuge

  2. Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Samuel S. M. Sun

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  1. Like Wang
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  2. Lisha Li
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Correspondence to Qiang Zhuge.

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Wang, L., Li, L., Xu, L. et al. Isolation and Functional Analysis of the Poplar RbcS Gene Promoter. Plant Mol Biol Rep 31, 120–127 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0482-y

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