title: Evaluation of rice promoters conferring pollen-specific expression in a heterologous system, Arabidopsis.
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Moe Moe
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Oo
authors.forename: Hyun-Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Tien Dung
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Sunok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Sung Aeong
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jeong Hoe
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Moon-Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Soh
authors.forename: Jong Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ki-Hong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Soon Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011058:Pollen / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins