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The 35S promoter used in a selectable marker gene of a plant transformation vector affects the expression of the transgene

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Abstract

Positive selection of transgenic plants is essential during plant transformation. Thus, strong promoters are often used in selectable marker genes to ensure successful selection. Many plant transformation vectors, including pPZP family vectors, use the 35S promoter as a regulatory sequence for their selectable marker genes. We found that the 35S promoter used in a selectable marker gene affected the expression pattern of a transgene, possibly leading to a misinterpretation of the result obtained from transgenic plants. It is likely that the 35S enhancer sequence in the 35S promoter is responsible for the interference, as in the activation tagging screen. This affected expression mostly disappeared in transgenic plants generated using vectors without the 35S sequences within their T-DNA region. Therefore, we suggest that caution should be used in selecting a plant transformation vector and in the interpretation of the results obtained from transgenic approaches using vectors carrying the 35S promoter sequences within their T-DNA regions.

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Abbreviations

aacC1 :

Gentamycin acetyltransferase

aadA :

Streptomycin/spectinomycin adenylyltransferase

mas :

Mannopine synthase

nptII :

Neomycin phosphotransferase

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to S.M. Hong for data collection. We thank J.H. Lee and J. Kim for their critical reading of the manuscript. S.Y. Yoo, S.K. Yoo and M.S. Choi were supported by the BK21 program. This work was supported by a grant from the Plant Signaling Network Research Center of the Korean Science and Engineering Foundation (to J.H.A.) and by a grant from Crop Functional Genomics Center (to J.H.A. and J.S.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Signaling Network Research Center, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    So Yeon Yoo, Seung Kwan Yoo, Jung Won Yang, Mi Suk Choi & Ji Hoon Ahn

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 152-742, Korea

    Jong Seob Lee

  3. Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Detlef Weigel

  4. Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Kirsten Bomblies & Detlef Weigel

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  1. So Yeon Yoo
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  2. Kirsten Bomblies
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  4. Jung Won Yang
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  5. Mi Suk Choi
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  6. Jong Seob Lee
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  7. Detlef Weigel
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  8. Ji Hoon Ahn
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Correspondence to Ji Hoon Ahn.

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Yoo, S.Y., Bomblies, K., Yoo, S.K. et al. The 35S promoter used in a selectable marker gene of a plant transformation vector affects the expression of the transgene. Planta 221, 523–530 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1466-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1466-4

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