Promoters with tissue-specific activity are very useful to address cell-autonomous and non cell autonomous functions of candidate genes. Although this strategy is widely used in Arabidopsis thaliana, its use to study tissue-specific regulation of root symbiotic interactions in legumes has only started recently. Moreover, using tissue specific promoter activity to drive a GAL4-VP16 chimeric tran...

Several studies suggest that plant hydrolytic enzymes, such as 1,3-beta-glucanases, may be components of a general defense system against pathogen invasion in several different plant species. We isolated and characterized a genomic sequence coding for a new acidic 1,3-beta-glucanase (gluB) from Solanum tuberosum. The 5' flanking region of the gluB gene was also characterized. A chimeric gene co...

The Nicotiana plumbaginifolia gnl gene encoding a 8-1,3-glucanase isoform has been characterired. The gnl product represents an isoform distinct from the previously identified tobacco 8-1,3-glucanases. By expressing gnl in Escherichia coli, we have determined directly that the encoded protein does, indeed, correspond to a &1,3glucanase. In N. plumbaginifolia, gnl was found to be expressed in ro...

The yeast ARS-1 element contains a scaffold attachment region (SAR) that we have previously shown can bind to plant nuclear scaffolds in vitro. To test effects on expression, constructs in which a chimeric beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene was flanked by this element were delivered into tobacco suspension cells by microprojectile bombardment. In stably transformed cell lines, GUS activity averaged ...

There is growing evidence that AT-rich promoter elements play a role in transcription of plant genes. For the promoter of the nuclear gene for chloroplast glutamine synthetase from pea (GS2), the deletion of a 33-bp AT-rich sequence (box 1 native) from the 5' end of a GS2 promoter-beta-glucuronidase (GUS) fusion resulted in a 10-fold reduction in GUS activity. The box 1 native element was used ...

The genomic RNA of potyviruses has a characteristic 5' non-translated region (5'NTR) to which a viral protein, VPg, is covalently attached. This suggests that the viral RNA lacks a conventional cap structure and thus its translation may not proceed in the same way as most cellular mRNAs. To investigate the role of the 5'NTR during translation, various derivatives of the turnip mosaic potyvirus ...

E. coli β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity assays are routinely used in fields such as plant molecular biology, applied microbiology and healthcare. Methods based on the optical detection of GUS using synthetic fluorogenic substrates are widely employed since they don't require expensive instrumentation and are easy to perform. In this study three fluorogenic substrates and their respective fluorop...

Regulation of the cytosolic acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) gene promoter from common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) was studied in transgenic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants using a beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene fusion (PvACCase::GUS). Under normal growth conditions, GUS was expressed in hydathodes, stipules, trichome bases, flowers, pollen, and embryos. In roots, expressi...

A biosensor was developed using a magnetic focusing optical waveguide (glass tubular probe) for the detection of glucuronidase (GUS) from Escherichia coli based on immunomagnetic separation and chemiluminescent measurement. The magnetic focusing resulted in a lower chemiluminescent signal than that obtained without magnetic-focusing, mainly due to the diffusion of the chemiluminescent reaction ...

Purple acid phosphatase (PAP) catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphate monoesters and anhydrides to release phosphate within an acidic pH range. Among the 29 PAP-like proteins in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), AtPAP15 (At3g07130) displays a greater degree of amino acid identity with soybean (Glycine max; GmPHY) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) PAP (NtPAP) with phytase activity than the other A...