title: Isolation and characterization of three cadmium-inducible promoters from Oryza sativa.
abstract: Cadmium (Cd) is an important soil pollutant. Developing genetically engineered crops might be a feasible strategy for Cd decontamination and damage prevention. Both genes and promoters are critical for the effective construction of genetically modified plants. Although many functional genes for Cd tolerance and accumulation have been identified, few reports have focused on plant Cd-inducible promoters. Here, we identified three Cd-inducible genes in the rice genome: two tau class glutathione S-transferase (GSTU) genes, OsGSTU5 and OsGSTU37, and an HSP20/alpha crystallin family protein gene, OsHSP18.6. The promoter sequences were isolated and tested in transgenic rice lines using a GUSplus reporter gene. All of the promoters exhibited low background expression under normal conditions and could be strongly induced by Cd stress. Although their strength was comparable to that of the constitutive OsACTIN promoter under Cd stress, their time-dependent expression patterns under both short- and long-term Cd exposure were markedly different. The responses of the three promoters to other heavy metals were also examined. Furthermore, heavy metal-responsive cis elements in the promoters were computationally analyzed, and regions determining the Cd stress response were analyzed using a series of truncations. Our results indicate that the three Cd-inducible rice promoters described herein could potentially be used in applications aimed at improving heavy metal tolerance in crops or for the bio-monitoring of environmental contamination.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Hong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Ying
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Rong-Fang
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Feng-Shun
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China. Electronic address: weipengcheng@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Peng-Cheng
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Rice Genetics Breeding of Anhui Province, Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China. Electronic address: yjianbo@263.net.
authors.forename: Jian-Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013045:Species Specificity; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; D002104:Cadmium
keywords: Cadmium stress; Heavy metals; Inducible promoter; Rice