Expression of Acidothermus cellulolyticus E1 endo-beta-1,4-glucanase catalytic domain in transplastomic tobacco.

As part of an effort to develop transgenic plants as a system for the production of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes, we evaluated the production of the endo-beta-1,4-glucanase E1 catalytic domain (E1cd) of Acidothermus cellulolyticus in transplastomic tobacco. In an attempt to increase the translation efficiency of the E1cd cassette, various lengths of the N-terminus of the psbA gene product were fused to the E1cd protein. The psbA gene of the plastid genome encodes the D1 polypeptide of photosystem II and is known to encode an efficiently translated mRNA.

Higher copy numbers of the potato RB transgene correspond to enhanced transcript and late blight resistance levels.

Late blight of potato ranks among the costliest of crop diseases worldwide. Host resistance offers the best means for controlling late blight, but previously deployed single resistance genes have been short-lived in their effectiveness. The foliar blight resistance gene RB, previously cloned from the wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum, has proven effective in greenhouse tests of transgenic cultivated potato.

Sgt1, but not Rar1, is essential for the RB-mediated broad-spectrum resistance to potato late blight.

Background: Late blight is the most serious potato disease world-wide. The most effective and environmentally sound way for controlling late blight is to incorporate natural resistance into potato cultivars. Several late blight resistance genes have been cloned recently.

The WiscDsLox T-DNA collection: an arabidopsis community resource generated by using an improved high-throughput T-DNA sequencing pipeline.

We have developed a new community resource, called the WiscDsLox collection, for performing reverse-genetic analysis in arabidopsis. This resource is composed of 10,459 T-DNA lines generated using the Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia. The flanking sequence tag for each T-DNA insertion has been deposited in public databases, and seed for each line is currently available from the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

A protocol for rapid, highly efficient transformation of alfalfa is described. Leaf explants from growth chamber-grown plants of a highly regenerable genotype are surface-sterilized, the margins are removed, and explants are inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 carrying the T-DNA vector of interest. The explants and bacteria are cocultured for 7 to 8 d.

Isolation and characterization of phyC mutants in Arabidopsis reveals complex crosstalk between phytochrome signaling pathways.

Studies with mutants in four members of the five-membered Arabidopsis phytochrome (phy) family (phyA, phyB, phyD, and phyE) have revealed differential photosensory and/or physiological functions among them, but identification of a phyC mutant has proven elusive. We now report the isolation of multiple phyC mutant alleles using reverse-genetics strategies. Molecular analysis shows that these mutants have undetectable levels of phyC protein, suggesting that they are null for the photoreceptor.

Gene RB cloned from Solanum bulbocastanum confers broad spectrum resistance to potato late blight.

Late blight, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans, is the most devastating potato disease in the world. Control of late blight in the United States and other developed countries relies extensively on fungicide application. We previously demonstrated that the wild diploid potato species Solanum bulbocastanum is highly resistant to all known races of P.

Fungal phyA gene expressed in potato leaves produces active and stable phytase.

Fungal phyA gene from Aspergillus ficuum (niger) was cloned and expressed in potato leaves. The recombinant enzyme was stable and catalytically active. The expressed protein in the leaves of the dicotyledonous plant retained most physical and catalytic properties of the benchmark A.

Cloned and expressed fungal phyA gene in alfalfa produces a stable phytase.

The phyA gene from Aspergillus ficuum that codes for a 441-amino-acid full-length phosphomonoesterase (phytase) was cloned and expressed in Medicago sativa (alfalfa) leaves. The expressed enzyme from alfalfa leaves was purified to homogeneity and biochemically characterized, and its catalytic properties were elucidated. The expressed phytase in alfalfa leaves retained all the biochemical properties of the benchmark A.