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Characterization of a Novel Plant Promoter Specifically Induced by Heavy Metal and Identification of the Promoter Regions Conferring Heavy Metal Responsiveness¹

Department of Biology, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China (X.Q., T.C.); and Department of Bio-Engineering, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China (Y.Z.)

The bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) stress-related gene number 2 (PvSR2) gene responds to heavy metals but not to other forms of environmental stresses. To elucidate its heavy metal-regulatory mechanism at the transcriptional level, we isolated and characterized the promoter region (–1623/+48) of PvSR2. Deletions from the 5' end revealed that a sequence between –222 and –147 relative to the transcriptional start site was sufficient for heavy metal-specific induction of the promoter region of PvSR2. Detailed analysis of this 76-bp fragment indicated that heavy metal-responsive elements were localized in two regions (–222/–188 and –187/–147), each of which could separately confer heavy metal-responsive expression on the -glucuronidase gene in the context of a minimal cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Region I (–222/–188) contains a motif (metal-regulatory element-like sequence) similar to the consensus metal-regulatory element of the animal metallothionein gene, and mutation of this motif eliminated the heavy metal-inducible function of region I. Region II (–187/–147) had no similarity to previously identified cis-acting elements involved in heavy metal induction, suggesting the presence of a novel heavy metal-responsive element. Transformed tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) seedlings expressing -glucuronidase under control of the PvSR2 promoter region (–687/+48) showed heavy metal-specific responsive activity that depended on the type and concentration of the heavy metal and the type of organ. These findings further our understanding of the regulation of PvSR2 expression and provide a new heavy-metal-inducible promoter system in transgenic plants.

² Present address: College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Tuanyao Chai (tychai{at}gucas.ac.cn).

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.080283

^* Corresponding author; e-mail tychai{at}gucas.ac.cn; fax 86–10–8825–6343.

Received March 12, 2006; accepted July 10, 2006; published July 21, 2006.