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The arcelin-5 Gene of Phaseolus vulgaris Directs High Seed-Specific Expression in Transgenic Phaseolus acutifolius and Arabidopsis Plants1
Laboratorium voor Genetica, Departement Plantengenetica, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent, B-9000 Gent, Belgium The regulatory sequences of many genes encoding seed storage proteins have been used to drive seed-specific expression of a variety of proteins in transgenic plants. Because the levels at which these transgene-derived proteins accumulate are generally quite low, we investigated the utility of the arcelin-5 regulatory sequences in obtaining high seed-specific expression in transgenic plants. Arcelin-5 is an abundant seed protein found in some wild common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes. Seeds of Arabidopsis and Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray) plants transformed with arcelin-5 gene constructs synthesized arcelin-5 to levels of 15% and 25% of the total protein content, respectively. To our knowledge, such high expression levels directed by a transgene have not been reported before. The transgenic plants also showed low plant-to-plant variation in arcelin expression. Complex transgene integration patterns, which often result in gene silencing effects, were not associated with reduced arcelin-5 expression. High transgene expression was the result of high mRNA steady-state levels and was restricted to seeds. This indicates that all requirements for high seed-specific expression are cis elements present in the cloned genomic arcelin-5 sequence and trans-acting factors that are available in Arabidopsis and Phaseolus spp., and thus probably in most dicotyledonous plants. 1 This work was supported in part by a grant from the Algemeen Bestuur voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking. A.G. and J.D.C. both received fellowships from the Vlaams Instituut voor de bevordering van het Wetenschappelijk-Technologisch Onderzoek in de Industrie. 2 Present address: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Camino de Vera s/n, E-46022 Valencia, Spain. 3 Present address: CropDesign N.V., Technologiepark 3, B-9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium. * Corresponding author; e-mail mamon{at}gengenp.rug.ac.be; fax 32-9-2645349.
Plant Physiol. (1999) 120: 1095-1104
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