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Transformation of poplar (Populus alba) plastids and expression of foreign proteins in tree chloroplasts

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Abstract

Plastid transformation offers several unique advantages compared with nuclear genome transformation, such as high level of transgene expression within plastids, expressing multiple transgenes as operons, lack of position effect due to site-specific transgene integration, and reducing risks of gene flow via pollen due to maternal inheritance of the plastid genome. Plastid transformation has been applied to several herbal species, but as yet there are no applications to tree species. We report here the first successful plastid transformation in a tree species, Populus alba. A vector for plastid transformation of poplar (Populus alba) was constructed, which carried the spectinomycin resistance gene and the green fluorescence protein gene as marker genes. In the regenerated shoots, the site-specific integration of foreign genes and the establishment of a high homoplastomic state were confirmed. Immunoblot analysis and histological observations corroborated the accumulation of green fluorescence protein in chloroplasts. The establishment of a plastid transformation system in poplar provides a novel tool for tree biotechnology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Research Group, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), 9-2 Kizugawadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0292, Japan

    Satoru Okumura, Masaki Shimamura, Hisabumi Takase & Ken-Ichi Tomizawa

  2. Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Machiko Sawada, Yong Woo Park & Takahisa Hayashi

Authors
  1. Satoru Okumura
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  2. Machiko Sawada
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  3. Yong Woo Park
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  4. Takahisa Hayashi
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  5. Masaki Shimamura
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  6. Hisabumi Takase
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  7. Ken-Ichi Tomizawa
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Correspondence to Ken-Ichi Tomizawa.

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Okumura, S., Sawada, M., Park, Y.W. et al. Transformation of poplar (Populus alba) plastids and expression of foreign proteins in tree chloroplasts. Transgenic Res 15, 637–646 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-006-9009-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-006-9009-3

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