Efficient functioning of plant promoters and poly(A) sites in Xenopus oocytes

Nurit Ballas, Shimshon Broido, Hermona Soreq, Abraham Loyter*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mature Xenopus oocytes were challenged with DNA constructs including plant regulatory elements, namely, the Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter as well as the nopaline synthase (NOS) promoter and polyadenylation signal. The bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) was used as a reporter gene. When microinjected into these cells, the plant-derived DNA constructs effectively promoted CAT synthesis in a manner dependent on the presence of the plant promoters and probably also on the polyadenylation signals. Structural studies revealed that the supercoiled structures of the above DNA plasmids were much more active in supporting CAT synthesis in microinjected oocytes than their linear forms, with clear correlation between efficient gene expression and DNA topology. In contrast, the linear forms of these plasmids were considerably more active than the supercoiled ones in tranfected plant protoplasts. These findings demonstrate, for the first time, the activity of regulatory elements from plant genes in Xenopus oocytes and shed new light on the specific rules applicable for gene expression in plant and animal cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7891-7903
Number of pages13
JournalNucleic Acids Research
Volume17
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Oct 1989

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