FLP recombinase-mediated site-specific recombination in rice.

The feasibility of using the FLP/FRT site-specific recombination system in rice for genome engineering was evaluated. Transgenic rice plants expressing the FLP recombinase were crossed with plants harbouring the kanamycin resistance gene (neomycin phosphotransferase II, nptII) flanked by FRT sites, which also served to separate the corn ubiquitin promoter from a promoterless gusA. Hybrid progeny were tested for excision of the nptII gene and the positioning of the ubiquitin promoter proximal to gusA.

Turf Grasses.

A reliable and efficient genetic transformation protocol for various turfgrass species and elite cultivars has been achieved using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We describe a general protocol for the establishment of embryogenic cell cultures, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, selection, and regeneration of transgenic turfgrass plants. Embryogenic callus is initiated from mature seeds, maintained by visual selection, and infected with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain (LBA4404) that contains either an herbicide-resistant bar gene or an antibiotic-resistant hyg gene driven either by a rice ubiquitin or CaMV35S promoter.

RTS, a rice anther-specific gene is required for male fertility and its promoter sequence directs tissue-specific gene expression in different plant species.

A tapetum-specific gene, RTS, has been isolated by differential screening of a cDNA library from rice panicles. RTS is a unique gene in the rice genome. RNA blot analysis and in situ hybridization indicates that this gene is predominantly expressed in the anther's tapetum during meiosis and disappears before anthesis.

Use of beta-glucuronidase reporter gene for gene expression analysis in turfgrasses.

The beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene has been successfully used as a reporter gene in innumerable number of plant species. The functional GUS gene produces blue coloration in plants upon integration into the plant genome. Because of the ease it provides to analyze the gene expression (as no expensive equipment is needed), GUS gene is surely plant biotechnologist's first choice as a reporter gene.

Promoter analysis in transient assays using a GUS reporter gene construct in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris).

Transient expression profiles for several chimeric beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene constructs were determined in tissues (young leaves, mature leaves and roots) of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris, cv. Penn A4) following microprojectile bombardment. The constructs analyzed consisted of the uidA (GUS) reporter gene driven by four different promoters (ubiquitin 3-potato, ubiquitin corn, ubiquitin rice and CaMV 35S).

Transient reporter gene (GUS) expression in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) is affected by in vivo nucleolytic activity.

Leaf and callus tissues of a creeping bentgrass cultivar (Penn A4) had high nuclease activities that degraded exogenously added plasmid DNA. When callus tissue was incubated for 24 h with heparin, spermidine, aurintricarboxylic acid or polyethylene glycol, only heparin and spermidine were effective as in vitro nuclease inhibitors, protecting exogenously added plasmid DNA from degradation. When beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene activity was evaluated in heparin-treated (0.

Morphological, Pathogenic, and Genetic Comparisons of Colletotrichum graminicola Isolates from Poaceae.

Isolates of Colletotrichum graminicola from annual blue grass and creeping bent grass were investigated for their morphological characteristics, host specificity, and genetic relatedness. One isolate from maize and one from sorghum (C. sublineolum) were included for comparison.