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Seed specific expression of perilla γ-tocopherol methyltransferase gene increases α-tocopherol content in transgenic perilla (Perilla frutescens)

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Abstract

Increasing vitamin E activity in economically important oil crops such as perilla will enhance the nutritional value of these crops. Perilla (Perilla frutescens Britt) represents an important oil crop in Asian countries, including Korea. Using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, we have engineered perilla with the γ-tocopherol methyltransferase (γ-TMT) gene under the control of seed-specific vicillin promoter. Molecular characterization including PCR, Southern and Northern blots confirmed that the γ-TMT transgene was successfully inherited to and expressed in the progeny plants. The γ -TMT transgene was specifically expressed in immature seeds of transgenic plants, leading to efficient conversion of γ-tocopherol to α-tocopherol and dramatic increase in seed α-tocopherol content, as detected by high performance liquid chromatography analysis. We also showed that such a high α-tocopherol content phenotype was transmitted to the progeny plants. In addition, there was no significant change in fatty acid composition in transgenic seeds as compared with untransformed control Yeupsil cultivar, suggesting the lack of interplay between the fatty acid and tocopherol biosynthesis pathways. This was the first report on over expression of the γ-TMT gene in transgenic perilla displaying desirable high α-tocopherol content phenotype. Since α-tocopherol has the highest vitamin E activity, the transgenic perilla with high α-tocopherol content in seeds developed in this study will benefit both human and animal health.

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Abbreviations

γ-TMT:

γ-tocopherol methyltransferase

bar gene:

Bialaphos resistance gene

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

GC:

Gas chromatography

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Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. Seth D. Findley (University of Missouri-Columbia) for critical review of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Crop Science, 209 Seodundong, Suwon, 441-100, Korea

    Byoung-Kyu Lee, Sun-Lim Kim, Seung-Hee Yu, Hyang-Mi Park & Jang-Yong Lee

  2. National Institute of Agriculture Biotechnology, 225 Seodundong, Suwon, 441-707, Korea

    Kyung-Hwan Kim & Myung-Sik Kim

  3. Department of Agronomy, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Korea

    Sang-Chul Lee

  4. Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Zhanyuan Zhang

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  1. Byoung-Kyu Lee
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  2. Sun-Lim Kim
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  3. Kyung-Hwan Kim
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  4. Seung-Hee Yu
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  5. Sang-Chul Lee
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  9. Jang-Yong Lee
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Correspondence to Jang-Yong Lee.

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Lee, BK., Kim, SL., Kim, KH. et al. Seed specific expression of perilla γ-tocopherol methyltransferase gene increases α-tocopherol content in transgenic perilla (Perilla frutescens). Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 92, 47–54 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-007-9301-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-007-9301-9

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