title: Generation of selectable marker-free transgenic tomato resistant to drought, cold and oxidative stress using the Cre/loxP DNA excision system.
abstract: The aim of this research was to generate selectable marker-free transgenic tomato plants with improved tolerance to abiotic stress. An estradiol-induced site-specific DNA excision of a selectable marker gene using the Cre/loxP DNA recombination system was employed to develop transgenic tomato constitutively expressing AtIpk2 beta, an inositol polyphosphate 6-/3-kinase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic tomato plants containing a selectable marker were also produced as controls. The expression of AtIpk2 beta conferred improved resistance to drought, cold and oxidative stress in both sets of transgenic tomato plants. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using this Cre/loxP-based marker elimination strategy to generate marker-free transgenic crops with improved stress tolerance.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, 200032, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian-Tao
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yizhou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004260:DNA Repair; D055864:Droughts; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005819:Genetic Markers; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D005819:Genetic Markers; D004958:Estradiol; C523083:IPK2beta protein, Arabidopsis; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor); C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases