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The cowpea trypsin inhibitor promoter drives expression in response to cellular maturation in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

The bowman-birk type trypsin inhibitors accumulate in high concentration in legume and cereal seeds, especially during seed maturation and are considered to be involved in insect tolerance. The 5′ flanking sequences of the trypsin inhibitor was isolated from cowpea genomic DNA using anchor PCR. Analysis of sequences showed presence of seed specific RY elements and also other elements associated with seed development such as abscisic acid responsive elements (ABA responsive elements; ABRE) and dehydration responsive elements (DRE). Spatial and temporal control of the promoter driven expression pattern was analyzed using gus as reporter. Expression was found to occur both in embryo and endosperm; starting from torpedo stage of embryogenesis and continuing till the stage of final maturation i.e. bent cotyledon stage. Additional expression analyses showed that the promoter actually drives expression in tissues like leaves, roots, stipules, etc., but followed a specific pattern. Comparative analysis of expression in seeds and other organs indicated that the promoter driven expression is in response to cellular maturation.

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Abbreviations

DAF:

Days After Flowering

BBTI:

Bowman-Birk type Trypsin Inhibitor

ABA:

Abcissic acid

ABRE:

ABA Responsive Elements

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center on Plant Biotechnology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110 012, India

    S. Anandhan, Insaf A. Qureshi & K. R. Koundal

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  1. S. Anandhan
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  2. Insaf A. Qureshi
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  3. K. R. Koundal
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Correspondence to K. R. Koundal.

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Anandhan, S., Qureshi, I.A. & Koundal, K.R. The cowpea trypsin inhibitor promoter drives expression in response to cellular maturation in Arabidopsis thaliana . Physiol Mol Biol Plants 16, 31–37 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-010-0004-z

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