title: Two negative cis-regulatory regions involved in fruit-specific promoter activity from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris S.).
abstract: A 1.8 kb 5'-flanking region of the large subunit of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, isolated from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris S.), has fruit-specific promoter activity in transgenic tomato plants. Two negative regulatory regions, from -986 to -959 and from -472 to -424, were identified in this promoter region by fine deletion analyses. Removal of both regions led to constitutive expression in epidermal cells. Gain-of-function experiments showed that these two regions were sufficient to inhibit RFP (red fluorescent protein) expression in transformed epidermal cells when fused to the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S minimal promoter. Gel mobility shift experiments demonstrated the presence of leaf nuclear factors that interact with these two elements. A TCCAAAA motif was identified in these two regions, as well as one in the reverse orientation, which was confirmed to be a novel specific cis-element. A quantitative beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity assay of stable transgenic tomato plants showed that the activities of chimeric promoters harbouring only one of the two cis-elements, or both, were approximately 10-fold higher in fruits than in leaves. These data confirm that the TCCAAAA motif functions as a fruit-specific element by inhibiting gene expression in leaves.
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, PR China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Hanying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shanglong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Lingxiao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Daming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jingmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D029773:Citrullus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase