Abstract
The potential for expression of the nitrogenase Fe-protein in Nicotiana tabacum has been examined by construction of hybrid nifH and nifM genes which should target their polypeptide products to the plant chloroplast. In vitro import of these proteins into isolated chloroplasts has been demonstrated both aerobically and anaerobically. Initial attempts to express the engineered genes in transformed plants were unsuccessful, possibly because of the low translational efficiency of the constructs used. Modified plant vectors have now been constructed using viral leader sequences. After electroporation into tobacco mesophyll protoplasts these vectors show significantly improved expression as measured by transient expression assays with ß-glucuronidase as the reporter. The improved vectors are now being assessed in transformed plants.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Dowson-Day, M.J., Ashurst, J.L., Watts, J., Dixon, R.A., Merrick, M.J. (1991). Studies of the Potential for Expression of Nitrogenase Fe-Protein in Cells of Higher Plants. In: Polsinelli, M., Materassi, R., Vincenzini, M. (eds) Nitrogen Fixation. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 48. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3486-6_152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3486-6_152
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