HarpinPss (encoded by the hrpZ gene), a proteinaceous elicitor produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, induces cell death in plants through hypersensitive response (HR). With an aim to generate transgenic tobacco resistant to fungal diseases, hrpZ was expressed in a secretable form, tagged with the signal peptide (SP) of PR1a, under the constitutive 35S promoter (35S) or pathogen-inducib...

To enhance the natural plant resistance and to evaluate the antimicrobial properties of phylloplanin against blue mold, we have expressed a synthetic chimeric native-phylloplanin-GFP protein fusion in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum cv. KY14, a cultivar that is highly susceptible to infection by Peronospora tabacina. The coding sequence of the tobacco phylloplanin gene along with its native signal...

Roses are among the most widely produced cut flowers, with important ornamental and economic value in flower market. In order to investigate how regulate flowering periods, negative regulator of GA biosynthesis RcSPY was cloned from Rosa chinensis ectopically expressed tobacco. The overexpression SPY4 transgenic tobacco significantly increased plant height. Antisense interference conserved SPY ...

Environmental stresses generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which might be detrimental to the plants when produced in an uncontrolled way. However, the plants ameliorate such stresses by synthesizing antioxidants and enzymes responsible for the dismutation of ROS. Additionally, the dehydrins were also able to protect the inactivation of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase against hydroxyl radica...

Relaxin is a small peptide hormone that has demonstrated potential therapeutic actions for cardiovascular disease and fibrosis. Additionally, relaxin has demonstrated the ability to protect the heart from injuries caused by ischemia and reperfusion, promote the healing of ischemic ulcers, and counteract allergic responses. The objective of this research was to express fully processed porcine re...

An emerging topic in plant biology is whether plants display analogous elements of mammalian programmed cell death during development and defense against pathogen attack. In many plant-pathogen interactions, plant cell death occurs in both susceptible and resistant host responses. For example, specific recognition responses in plants trigger formation of the hypersensitive response and activati...

Expression of defensive genes from a promoter that is specifically activated in response to pathogen invasion is highly desirable for engineering disease-resistant plants. A plant transformation vector was constructed with transcriptional fusion between the pathogen-responsive win3.12T promoter from poplar and the gene encoding the novel cecropin A-melittin hybrid peptide (CEMA) with strong ant...

A critical parameter affecting the economic feasibility of lignocellulosic bioconversion is the production of inexpensive and highly active cellulase enzymes in bulk quantity. A promising approach to reduce enzyme costs is to genetically transform plants with the genes of these enzymes, thereby producing the desired cellulases in the plants themselves. Extraction and recovery of active proteins...

Cell expansion, a developmental process regulated by both endogenous programs and environmental stimuli, is critically important for plant growth. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of RSG (for repression of shoot growth), a transcriptional activator with a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain. To examine the role of RSG in plant development, we generated transgenic tobacco plants...