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Evaluation of rice promoters conferring pollen-specific expression in a heterologous system, Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Promoters can direct gene expression specifically to targeted tissues or cells. Effective with both crop species and model plant systems, these tools can help researchers overcome the practical obstacles associated with transgenic protocols. Here, we identified promoters that allow one to target the manipulation of gene expression during pollen development. Utilizing published transcriptomic databases for rice, we investigated the promoter activity of selected genes in Arabidopsis. From various microarray datasets, including those for anthers and pollen grains at different developmental stages, we selected nine candidate genes that showed high levels of expression in the late stages of rice pollen development. We named these Oryza sativa late pollen-specific genes. Their promoter regions contained various cis-acting elements that could be responsible for anther-/pollen-specific expression. Promoter::GUS–GFP reporters were constructed and introduced into Arabidopsis plants. Histochemical GUS staining revealed that six of the nine rice promoters conferred strong GUS expression that was restricted to the anthers in Arabidopsis. Further analysis showed that although the GUS signals were not detected at the unicellular stage, they strengthened in the bicellular or tricellular stages, peaking at the mature pollen stage. This paralleled their transcriptomic profiles in rice. Based on our results, we proposed that these six rice promoters, which are active in the late stages of pollen formation in the dicot Arabidopsis, can aid molecular breeders in generating new varieties of a monocot plant, rice.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Next-Generation BioGreen21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (The National Center for GM Crops, Grant No. PJ009528; Plant Molecular Breeding Center No. PJ008137, PJ009110); and in part by the Kyungpook National University Research Fund, 2012.

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  1. School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea

    Moe Moe Oo, Hyun-Kyung Bae, Tien Dung Nguyen, Sung Aeong Oh, Jong Tae Song & Soon Ki Park

  2. Department of Biology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea

    Jeong Hoe Kim

  3. Department of Molecular Biology, College of Life Science, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, Republic of Korea

    Moon-Soo Soh

  4. Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 446-701, Republic of Korea

    Ki-Hong Jung

  5. Department of Plant Molecular Systems Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 446-701, Republic of Korea

    Sunok Moon & Ki-Hong Jung

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  1. Moe Moe Oo
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Communicated by Dolf Weijers.

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Oo, M.M., Bae, HK., Nguyen, T.D. et al. Evaluation of rice promoters conferring pollen-specific expression in a heterologous system, Arabidopsis . Plant Reprod 27, 47–58 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-014-0239-x

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