Abstract: A versatile gene expression cartridge and binary vector system was constructed for use in Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation. The expression cartridge of the primary cloning vector, pART7, comprises of cauliflower mosaic virus Cabb B-JI isolate 35S promoter, a multiple cloning site and the transcriptional termination region of the octopine synthase gene. The entire cartridge can be removed from pART7 as a Not I fragment and introduced directly into the binary vector, pART27, recombinants being selected by blue/white screening for beta-galactosidase. pART27 carries the RK2 minimal replicon for maintenance in Agrobacterium, the ColE1 origin of replication for high-copy maintenance in Escherichia coli and the Tn7 spectinomycin/streptomycin resistance gene as a bacterial selectable marker. The organisational structure of the T-DNA of pART27 has been constructed taking into account the right to left border, 5' to 3' model of T-DNA transfer. The T-DNA carries the chimaeric kanamycin resistance gene (nopaline synthase promoter-neomycin phosphotransferase-nopaline synthase terminator) distal to the right border relative to the lacZ' region. Utilisation of these vectors in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of tobacco demonstrated efficient T-DNA transfer to the plant genome.

Abstract: We have isolated a rab-related (responsive to ABA) gene, rab18 from Arabidopsis thaliana. The gene encodes a hydrophilic, glycine-rich protein (18.5 kDa), which contains the conserved serine- and lysine-rich domains characteristic of similar RAB proteins in other plant species. The rab18 mRNA accumulates in plants exposed to low temperature, water stress or exogenous ABA but not in plants subjected to heat shock. This stress-related accumulation of the rab18 mRNA is markedly decreased in the ABA-synthesis mutant aba-1, the ABA-response mutant abi-1 or in wild-type plants treated with the carotenoid synthesis inhibitor, fluridone. Exogenous ABA treatment can induce the rab18 mRNA in the aba-1 mutant but not in the abi-1 mutant. These results provide direct genetic evidence for the ABA-dependent regulation of the rab18 gene in A. thaliana.

Abstract: More than eighty years ago now Smith and Townsend [141] published an article in which they presented evidence that the bacterium which is now called Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the causative agent of the widespread neoplastic plant disease crown gall (Fig. 1). Since then a large number of scientists throughout the world have focused their research on this organism in an effort to analyse the molecular mechanism underlying the process of crown gall induction in detail. This was driven by the hope that this would lead to a better understanding of oncogenesis in general, and to the development of remedies for such diseases. After a period of diminished interest in the system Agrobacterium and crown gall research revived when it became apparent that oncogenic gene transfer from Agrobacterium to plants might form the molecular basis of crown gall induction, and thus the transfer system might be exploited for the genetic engineering of plants.

Abstract: A full-length tomato cDNA clone, TSW12, which is developmentally and environmentally regulated, has been isolated and characterized. TSW12 mRNA is accumulated during tomato seed germination and its level increases after NaCl treatment or heat shock. In mature plants, TSW12 mRNA is only detected upon treatment with NaCl, mannitol or ABA and its expression mainly occurs in stems. The nucleotide sequence of TSW12 includes an open reading frame coding for a basic protein of 114 amino acids; the first 23 amino acids exhibit the sequence characteristic of a signal peptide. The high similarity between the TSW12-deduced amino acid sequence and reported lipid transfer proteins suggests that TSW12 encodes a lipid transfer protein.

Abstract: Tomato leaves infected by the fungal pathogen Cladosporium fulvum contain several types of intracellular and extracellular pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. Previously, we reported the purification and serological characterization of five extracellular PR proteins: P2, P4, P6, a chitinase and a β-1,3-glucanase [22, 23]. Here we describe the purification of a basic intracellular 33 kDa β-1,3-glucanase and the isolation and characterization of cDNA clones encoding the two extracellular P14 isomers P4 and P6, the extracellular acidic β-1,3-glucanase and a basic 35 kDa β-1,3-glucanase, different from the purified 33 kDa protein. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that tomato PR proteins are not encoded by large gene families, as is the case in tobacco. The number of genes corresponding to each protein was estimated to vary between one and three. A northern blot analysis indicated that the mRNAs for the extracellular PR proteins (P4, P6 and acidic β-1,3-glucanase) accumulate to similar levels in compatible and incompatible tomato-C. fulvum interactions, although the maximum level of expression is reached much faster in the incompatible interaction. On the other hand, the mRNA for the basic 35 kDa β-1,3-glucanase is induced rapidly to high levels in both interactions, but declines in time to background levels only in the incompatible interaction. The relevance of this difference in relation to plant defence is discussed.

Abstract: Catharanthus roseus (periwinkle) produces a wide range of terpenoid indole alkaloids, including several pharmaceutically important compounds, from the intermediate strictosidine. The complete mRNA sequence for the enzyme strictosidine synthase (SSS) was determined. Comparison of the primary structure of the encoded protein with the amino-terminal sequence of purified SSS indicated the presence of a signal peptide of 31 amino acids in the putative primary translation product. SSS is encoded by a single-copy gene indicating that isoenzymes reported by others are formed post-translationally from a single precursor. The sss gene and the tryptophan decarboxylase gene (tdc), encoding another enzyme essential for indole alkaloid biosynthesis, are coordinately regulated. In plants steady-state mRNA levels are highest in roots. In cell suspension cultures the genes are rapidly down-regulated by auxin. In contrast, both genes are strongly induced by fungal elicitors such as Pythium aphanidermatum culture filtrate or yeast extract. Induction is a rapid, transcriptional event occurring independent of de novo protein synthesis. These results show that a first important regulatory step in the complex process leading to indole alkaloid accumulation in C. roseus suspension cells is transcription of the biosynthetic genes.

Abstract: Members of the Chenopodiaceae, such as sugar beet and spinach, accumulate glycine betaine in response to salinity or drought stress. The last enzyme in the glycine betaine biosynthetic pathway is betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH). In sugar beet the activity of BADH was found to increase two- to four-fold in both leaves and roots as the NaCl level in the irrigation solution was raised from 0 to 500 mM. This increase in BADH activity was paralleled by an increase in level of translatable BADH mRNA. Several cDNAs encoding BADH were cloned from a λgt10 libary representing poly(A)+ RNA from salinized leaves of sugar beet plants, by hybridization with a spinach BADH cDNA. Three nearly full-length cDNA clones were confirmed to encode BADH by their nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence identity to spinach BADH; these clones showed minor nucleotide sequence differences consistent with their being of two different BADH alleles. The clones averaged 1.7 kb and contained an open reading frame predicting a polypeptide of 500 amino acids with 83% identity to spinach BADH. RNA gel blot analysis of total RNA showed that salinization to 500 mM NaCl increased BADH mRNA levels four-fold in leaves and three-fold in the taproot. DNA gel blot analyses indicated the presence of at least two copies of BADH in the haploid sugar beet genome.

Abstract: The commercially important Indica rice cultivar Oryza sativa cv. IR72 has been transformed using direct gene transfer to protoplasts. PEG-mediated transformation was done with two plasmid constructs containing either a CaMV 35S promoter/HPH chimaeric gene conferring resistance to hygromycin (Hg) or a CaMV 35S promoter/BAR chimaeric gene conferring resistance to a commercial herbicide (Basta) containing phosphinothricin (PPT). We have obtained so far 92 Hgr and 170 PPTr IR72 plants from protoplasts through selection. 31 Hgr and 70 PPTr plants are being grown in the greenhouse to maturity. Data from Southern analysis and enzyme assays proved that the transgene was stably integrated into the host genome and expressed. Transgenic plants showed complete resistance to high doses of the commercial formulations of PPT.

Abstract: Bombardment of plant tissues with microprojectiles in an effective method of wounding to promote Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Tobacco cv. Xanthi leaves and sunflower apical meristems were wounded by microprojectile bombardment prior to application of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains containing genes within the T-DNA encoding GUS or NPTII. Stable kanamycin-resistant tobacco transformants were obtained using an NPTII construct from particle/plasmid, particle-wounded/Agrobacterium-treated or scalpel-wounded/Agrobacterium-treated potato leaves. Those leaves bombarded with particles suspended in TE buffer prior to Agrobacterium treatment produced at least 100 times more kanamycin-resistant colonies than leaves treated by the standard particle gun transformation protocol. In addition, large sectors of GUS expression, indicative of meristem cell transformation, were observed in plants recovered from sunflower apical explants only when the meristems were wounded first by particle bombardment prior to Agrobacterium treatment. Similar results in two different tissue types suggest that (1) particles may be used as a wounding mechanism to enhance Agrobacterium transformation frequencies, and (2) Agrobacterium mediation of stable transformation is more efficient than the analogous particle/plasmid protocol.

Abstract: Regulation of wound-inducible 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase expression was studied in tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Pik-Red). A 70 base oligonucleotide probe homologous to published ACC synthase cDNA sequences was successfully used to identify and analyze regulation of a wound-inducible transcript. The 1.8 kb ACC synthase transcript increased upon wounding the fruit as well as during fruit ripening. Salicylic acid, an inhibitor of wound-responsive genes in tomato, inhibited the wound-induced accumulation of the ACC synthase transcript. Further, polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) that have anti-senescence properties and have been shown to inhibit the development of ACC synthase activity, inhibited the accumulation of the wound-inducible ACC synthase transcript. The inhibition by spermine was greater than that caused by putrescine or spermidine. The transcript level of a wound-repressible glycine-rich protein gene and that of the constitutively expressed rRNA were not affected as markedly by either salicylic acid or polyamines. These data suggest that salicylic acid and polyamines may specifically regulate ethylene biosynthesis at the level of ACC synthase transcript accumulation.

Abstract: Plants have evolved with pathogens and insect pests for millions of years. It is therefore not surprising that a particular plant is resistant to most of them. When certain environmental conditions exist, however, virulent pathogens can cause damage to plant tissues both in the field and in storage. Indeed, modern intensive agriculture has often exacerbated the occurrence of disease outbreaks by presenting the pest with an intense monoculture of genetically identical plants grown in close proximity under high water and fertilizer regimes. Plant pathologists and entomologists are faced with the job of preventing economic losses in these contrived situations. Historically, the most desirable and effective strategy has been the incorporation of disease resistance genes into commercially acceptable cultivars. In the past ten years, the tools of molecular biology have been applied to the study of the mechanisms accounting for disease resistance.

Abstract: Research into the structure and function of proteinase Inhibitors I and II proteins in organs and tissues of several solanaceous plants began with the discovery and crystallization of Inhibitor I from Russet Burbank potato tubers in 1962 [1]. This was later followed by the isolation and characterization of Inhibitor II from potato tubers [2]. Inhibitor I and II are serine proteinase inhibitors that have evolved as members of two nonhomologous gene families. Inhibitor I proteins have a molecular mass of about 8000 kDa, whereas Inhibitor II proteins have a M r of about 12 000 kDa. Inhibitor I is a potent inhibitor of chymotrypsin, while Inhibitor II is a ‘double-headed’ inhibitor, having evolved by gene duplicated-elongation events from a smaller ancestral gene, and it possesses two reactive sites that are specific for trypsin and chymotrypsin respectively.

Abstract: We describe a family of stress-induced, developmentally regulated soybean genes for which cDNAs have been obtained from two different cultivars (Glycine max cv. Mandarin and Glycine max cv. Williams). The mRNAs corresponding to these cDNAs, called SAM22 and H4, respectively, accumulate predominantly in the roots of soybean seedlings but are present at high levels in the roots and leaves of mature plants. SAM22 accumulation is especially dramatic in senescent leaves. In addition, SAM22 accumulation can be induced in young leaves by wounding or by transpiration-mediated uptake of salicylic acid, methyl viologen, fungal elicitor, hydrogen peroxide or sodium phosphate (pH 6.9). Taken together, these data indicate that the genes corresponding to SAM22 and H4 are induced by various stresses and developmental cues. Southern blot analysis indicates that multiple copies of sequences related to SAM22 exist in the soybean genome. We also show that the nucleotide sequences of the cDNAs corresponding to SAM22 and H4 are 86% identical at the nucleotide level to each other and 70% identical at the amino acid level to the ‘disease resistance response proteins’ of Pisum sativum.

Abstract: Progeny recovered from backcrossed transgenic maize tissue culture regenerants (R0) were analyzed to determine the segregation, expression, and stability of the introduced genes. Transgenic A188×B73 R0 plants (regenerated from embryogenic suspension culture cells transformed by microprojectile bombardment; see [9]) were pollinated with nontransformed B73 pollen. Inheritance of a selectable marker gene, bar, and a nonselectable marker gene, uidA, was analyzed in progeny (R1) representing four independent transformation events. Activity of the bar gene product, phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT), was assessed in plants comprising the four R1 populations. The number of R1 plants containing PAT activity per total number of R1 plants recovered for each population was 2/7, 19/34, 3/14 and 73/73. Molecular analysis confirmed the segregation of bar in three R1 populations and the lack of segregation in one R1 population. Cosegregation analysis indicated genetic linkage of bar and uidA in all four R1 populations. Analysis of numerous R2 plants derived from crossing transformed R1 plants with nontransformed inbreds revealed 1:1 segregation of PAT activity in three of four lines, including the line that failed to segregate in the R1 generation. Integrated copies of bar in one line appeared to be unstable or poorly transmitted.

Abstract: Embryogenic maize (Zea mays L.) callus cultures were transformed by microprojectile bombardment with a chimeric hygromycin phosphotransferase (HPT) gene and three transformed lines were obtained by selecting for hygromycin resistance. All lines contained one or a few copies of the intact HPT coding sequence. Fertile, transgenic plants were regenerated and the transmission of the chimeric gene was demonstrated through two complete generations. One line inherited the gene in the manner expected for a single, dominant locus, whereas two did not.

Abstract: The iron-storage protein ferritin has been purified to homogeneity from maize seeds, allowing to determine the sequence of the first 29 NH2-terminal amino acids of its subunit and to raise specific rabbit polyclonal antibodies. Addition of 500 μM Fe-EDTA/75 μM Fe-citrate to hydroponic culture solutions of maize plantlets, previously starved for iron, led to a significant increase of the iron concentration of roots and leaves, albeit root iron was mainly found associated with the apoplast. Immunodetection of ferritin by western blots indicated that this iron treatment induced ferritin protein accumulation in roots and leaves over a period of 3 days. In order to investigate this induction at the ferritin mRNA level, various ferritin cDNA clones were isolated from a cDNA library prepared from poly(A)+ mRNA isolated from roots 48 h after iron treatment. These cDNAs were classified into two groups called FM1 and FM2. Upstream of the sequence encoding the mature ferritin subunit, both of these cDNAs contained an in-frame coding sequence with the characteristics of a transit peptide for plastid targeting. Two members of the FM1 subfamily, both partial at their 5′ extremity, were characterized. They are identical, except in their 3′ untranslated region: FM1A extends 162 nucleotides beyond the 3′ terminus of FM1B. These two mRNAs could arise from the use of two different polyadenylation signals. FM2 is 96% identical to FM1 and contains 45 nucleotides of 5′ untranslated region. Northern analyses of root and leaf RNAs, at different times after iron treatment, revealed ferritin mRNA accumulation in response to iron. Ferritin mRNA accumulation was transient and particularly abundant in leaves, reaching a maximum at 24 h. The level of ferritin mRNA in roots was affected to a lesser extent than in leaves.

Abstract: The Brassica napus cDNA clone A9 and the corresponding Arabidopsis thaliana gene have been sequenced. The B. napus cDNA and the A. thaliana gene encode proteins that are 73% identical and are predicted to be 10.3 kDa and 11.6 kDa in size respectively. Fusions of an RNase gene and the reporter gene β-glucuronidase to the A. thaliana A9 promoter demonstrated that in tobacco the A9 promoter is active solely in tapetal cells. Promoter activity is first detectable in anthers prior to sporogenous cell meiosis and ceases during microspore premitotic interphase. The deduced A9 protein sequence has a pattern of cysteine residues that is present in a superfamily of seed plant proteins which contains seed storage proteins and several protease and α-amylase inhibitors.

Abstract: Jasmonic acid (JA) and its methyl ester (JA-Me) are able to introduce the accumulation of several specific polypeptides in cut leaf segments of barley. Two of the most prominent JA-induced proteins of M r 15 000 and 23 000 have been characterized by isolating and sequencing complete cDNA sequences. While the sequence of the M r 23 000 polypeptide shows no similarity to published sequences, the sequence of the M r 15 000 polypeptide corresponds to the higher-molecular-weight precursor of a leaf thionin previously characterized. Transcripts for the M r 23 000 and M r 15 000 polypeptides accumulate in leaf segments shortly after the beginning of JA treatment. JA and JA-Me induce the appearance of the two proteins not only in leaf segments but also in intact barley seedlings. However, in seedlings the accumulation of JA-induced proteins occurs much more slowly and requires high concentrations of volatile JA-Me. Thus, in barley it seems unlikely that volatile JA-Me is involved in the interaction between different members of this species, as has been proposed recently for tomato seedlings.

Abstract: Chalcone synthase (CHS) and stilbene synthase (STS) are closely related polyketide synthases which are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of flavonoids and stilbenes. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is an interesting plant for a direct comparison of the enzymes. It not only contains the usual flavonoids, but also an unusual chalcone derivative (pinocembrin), and it synthesizes stilbenes of the pinosylvin type. We analysed a CHS and a STS by molecular cloning and functional expression in Escherichia coli. The CHS was active not only with 4-coumaroyl-CoA (to naringenin chalcone), but also with cinnamoyl-CoA (leading to pinocembrin). The STS was identified as dihydropinosylvin synthase, because it preferred dihydrocinnamoyl-CoA to cinnamoyl-CoA. The protein deviated in 47 positions from the CHS consensus. It had 73.2% identity with the CHS from P. sylvestris and only 65.3% with a STS from peanut (Arachis hypogaea). We also investigated the regulation of both enzyme types in P. sylvestris plantlets exposed to stress. CHS was present in non-stressed plantlets, and induction led to a transient increase with a peak after 16 h. STS1 type activities were regulated differently and were absent in non-stressed plantlets. Increases were observed after a lag period of at least 6 h, and highest activities were obtained after 30 h. The analysis of the reactions in the plant extracts and the substrate specificity of the cloned STS indicate that the plants contain at least two different types of STS: the cloned dihydropinosylvin synthase and a pinosylvin synthase which preferentially utilizes cinnamoyl-CoA as substrate.

Abstract: The Cre-lox site-specific recombination system of bacteriophage P1 was used to excise a firefly luciferase (luc) gene which had previously been incorporated into the tobacco genome. The excision event was due to site-specific DNA recombination between two lox sequences flanking the luc gene and was catalyzed by the Cre recombinase introduced by cross-fertilization. Recombination resulted in the fusion of a promoter with a distally located hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) coding sequence and the excision event was monitored as a phenotypic change from expression of luc to expression of hpt. The efficiency of recombination was estimated from the exchange of gene activity and confirmed by molecular analysis. The relevance to potential applications of site-specific deletion-fusion events for chromosome engineering are discussed.

Abstract: Agrobacterium-transformedArabidopsis plants were generated and the stability of their T-DNA-encoded resistance to kanamycin was examined. Of seven families, each homozygous for a single insertion event, two showed progressive inactivation of resistance over four generations of inbreeding. Loss of resistance was associated with methylation of anSst II site in thenos promoter of the kanamycin resistance gene. Treatment of plant roots from inactive lines with the demethylating agent 5-azacytidine restored the ability of such lines to form callus on kanamycin-containing media. These observations are consistent with the view that methylation is a factor in the progressive inactivation of transgenes inArabidopsis.

Abstract: In the plant kingdom a great variety of pathogenic, saprophytic and symbiotic interactions between plants and microorganisms occur, and several of these interactions have been the subject of intensive research. One of the best studied interactions is the symbiosis of Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium or Azorhizobium bacteria with legume plants, which results in the formation of root nodules, in which bacteria are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. This process of symbiotic N2 fixation is the major naturally occurring mechanism by which nitrogen is reduced and the ecological and agricultural importance of this process has been an important incentive to study this plant-microbe relation. The process of symbiotic N2 fixation has been discussed in several recent reviews [33].

Abstract: Synthetic oligonucleotides based on the sequence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase from tomato [15] were used to prime the synthesis and amplification of a 337 bp tomato ACC synthase cDNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This PCR product was used to screen a cDNA library prepared from mRNA isolated from senescing carantion flower petals. Two cDNA clones were isolated which represented the same mRNA. The longer of the two clones (CARACC3) contained a 1950 bp insert with a single open reading frame of 516 amino acids encoding a protein of 58 kDa. The predicted protein from the carnation ACC synthase cDNA was 61%, 61%, 64%, and 51% identical to the deduced proteins from zucchini squash, winter squash, tomato, and apple, respectively. Genomic DNA gel blot analysis indicated the presence of at least a second gene in carnation which hybridized to CARACC3 under conditions of low stringency. ACC synthase mRNA accumulates during senescence of carnation flower petals concomitant with the increase in ethylene production and ACC synthase enzyme activity. Ethylene induced the accumulation of ACC synthase mRNA in presenescent petals. Wound-induced ethylene production in leaves was not associated with an increase in ACC synthase mRNA represented by CARACC3. These results indicate that CARACC3 represents an ACC synthase transcript involved in autocatalytic ethylene production in senescing flower petals.

Abstract: Plant cells, like other eukaryotic cells, have compartmentalized many of their metabolic processes into discrete organelles (Fig. 1). The processes whereby these organelles are formed and maintained is one of the central issues in cell biology and has been the focus of extensive research over the past two decades. With the exception of a few proteins made within the chloroplasts and mitochondria, the proteins present within the various subcellular organelles are all synthesized in the cytosol or on membrane-bound ribosomes. The transport and sorting of proteins to their appropriate destinations is dependent on specific targeting signals present in the sequence or structure of the nascent protein.

Abstract: We report the isolation and characterisation of a wound-induced cDNA designated AoPR1 from a suspension of mesophyll cells that had been mechanically isolated from cladodes of light-grown Asparagus officinalis seedlings by grinding in a mortar and pestle. The transcript abundance is up-regulated following cell separation and in chopped mesocotyl tissue from dark-grown seedlings. The expression of AoPR1 was shown by northern analysis to be located around the site of damage. Sequence analysis revealed similarity between the predicted AoPR1 polypeptide and bean PvPR1 and PvPR2 proteins, the potato pSTH2 protein, the pea PI49 protein, the parsley PcPR1-1 protein and a major pollen allergen from birch (BetvI). These transcripts have been shown to be induced in response to microbial attack or fungal elicitation. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a monocot cDNA belonging to this class of intracellular pathogenesis-related proteins (IPRs).

Abstract: Treatment of the ozone-sensitive tobacco cultivar Bel W3 with an ozone pulse (0.15 microliter/l, 5 h) markedly increased the mRNA level of basic beta-1,3-glucanase and to a lower degree that of basic chitinase. The increase of beta-1,3-glucanase mRNA level occurred within 1 h and showed a transient maximum. Seventeen hours after ozone treatment, the beta-1,3-glucanase mRNA level decreased to lower values. The increase of basic chitinase mRNA level was delayed and was less pronounced than that of beta-1,3-glucanase mRNA. Cultivar Bel B showed only a small increase of beta-1,3-glucanase mRNA level after the same ozone treatment, whereas its basic chitinase mRNA was more strongly induced. Prolonged ozone treatment for 2 days of tobacco Bel W3 led to a persistent level of beta-1,3-glucanase and basic chitinase mRNAs, as well as to an increase of acidic chitinase and 'pathogenesis-related' (PR) 1b mRNA levels. The results indicate that genes so far considered to code for PR proteins may also be involved in the plant response to oxidative stress.

Abstract: The isolation and characterization of cDNA and homologous genomic clones encoding the lignin O-methyltransferase (OMT) from maize is reported. The cDNA clone has been isolated by differential screening of maize root cDNA library. Southern analysis indicates that a single gene codes for this protein. The genomic sequence contains a single 916 bp intron. The deduced protein sequence from DNA shares significant homology with the recently reported lignin-bispecific caffeic acid/5-hydroxyferulic OMTs from alfalfa and aspen. It also shares homology with OMTs from bovine pineal glands and a purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium. The mRNA of this gene is present at different levels in distinct organs of the plant with the highest accumulation detected in the elongation zone of roots. Bacterial extracts from clones containing the maize OMT cDNA show an activity in methylation of caffeic acid to ferulic acid comparable to that existing in the plant extracts. These results indicate that the described gene encodes the caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase (COMT) involved in the lignin biosynthesis of maize.

Abstract: We observed that flowing helium at moderate pressures accelerated DNA-coated microprojectiles to velocities suitable for penetration of cells in intact plant tissues. The flowing helium principle permitted the construction of a simple and inexpensive transformation device that was easier to use than those previously described. This device provided efficient transformation of cells in soybean seedlings and other plants.

Abstract: Three cDNAs encoding desiccation-induced proteins from the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum were each ligated to a triplicated CaMV 35S promoter and a nopaline synthase 3′-flanking region in an Agrobacterium vector and introduced into tobacco. Transgenic plants expressed the encoded Craterostigma proteins at high levels. This did not lead to changes in the phenotype, in the growth habit or in basic photosynthetic parameters. In tobacco, one protein was targeted to the chloroplast stroma which is its normal location in Craterostigma. These desiccation-related proteins are not sufficient per se to increase drought tolerance as measured by ion-leakage tests.