The prominent repair mechanism of DNA double-strand breaks formed upon excision of the maize Ac transposable element is via nonhomologous end joining. In this work we have studied the role of homologous recombination as an additional repair pathway. To this end, we developed an assay whereby beta-Glucuronidase (GUS) activity is restored upon recombination between two homologous ectopic (nonalle...

Abbreviations: ACL5, ACAULIS5; ATHB8, ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA HOMEOBOX8; bHLH, basic helix-loop-helix; 2,4-D IOE, isooctyl ester of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; EMS, ethyl methanesulfonate; GUS, β-glucuronidase; LHW, LONESOME HIGHWAY; mORF, main open-reading frame; MP, MONOPTEROS; PAO, POLYAMINE OXIDASE; SAC, SUPPRESSOR-OF-ACL5; SACL, SAC-LIKE; SAMDC, S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase; TMO5, T...

A Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast transformant, designated MU7, carrying a chimeric (rbcL promoter: beta-glucuronidase [GUS]: psaB 3' end) gene whose transcripts have been found previously to be unstable in light (half-life of 20 min in light as opposed to a half-life of 5 h in the dark), was used to study the role of electron transport and of the redox state in the degradation of chlorop...

alpha-1,4-Linked oligogalacturonides (OGs) inhibit auxin-regulated transcriptional activation of a rolB-beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene fusion in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) leaf explants (D. Bellincampi, M. Cardarelli, D. Zaghi, G. Serino, G. Salvi, C. Gatz, F. Cervone, M. M. Altamura, P. Costantino, G. De Lorenzo [1996] Plant Cell 8: 477-487). In this paper we show that inhibition by OGs is ver...

In humans, uridine 5'-diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) operates in opposition to glucuronidase (GUS) to control activity of diverse metabolites such as hormones by reversible conjugation with glucuronic acid. Previous data revealed that, as in mammals, these enzymes are required for plant life in that a UGT from Pisum sativum (PsUGT1) controls plant development by opposing endogenous G...

The roles of the rice sucrose transporter, OsSUT1, have previously been examined in filling grain, germination, and early seedling growth. In the current work, the role that OsSUT1 plays in the transport of assimilate along the entire long-distance pathway, from the flag leaf blade to the base of the filling grain, was investigated. OsSUT1 promoter::GUS (beta-glucuronidase) reporter gene analys...

Transfection of trypanosomatids, particularly the transfection of their mitochondrion and different developmental stages, is still a limiting step in many experiments using recombinant DNA technology. Two types of trypanosomatid transfection protocols have been described so far. The standard protocol is based on electroporation first described by Bellofatto and Cross [1]. The second protocol is...

We describe a system for gene expression in plants based on the regulation mechanism of the yeast metallothionein (MT) gene. The system consists of two elements: (i) the yeast ace1 (activating copper-MT expression) gene encoding a transcription factor under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S RNA promoter, and (ii) a gene of interest under control of a chimeric promoter consistin...

Drought stress is the main limiting factor of soybean yield. Currently, genetic engineering has been one important tool in the development of drought-tolerant cultivars. A widely used strategy is the fusion of genes that confer tolerance under the control of the CaMV35S constitutive promoter; however, stress-responsive promoters would constitute the best alternative to the generation of drought...

A promoter is an essential structural component of a gene that controls its transcription activity in different development stages and in response to various environmental stimuli. Knowledge of promoter functionality in heterologous systems is important in the study of gene regulation and biotechnological application. In order to explore the activity of the pepper capsaicin synthase gene (PUN1)...