The promoter of an A9 homolog from the conifer Cryptomeria japonica imparts male strobilus-dominant expression in transgenic trees.

KEY MESSAGE : GUS analysis in Cryptomeria japonica revealed that the CjMALE1 promoter is activated in the male strobilus of C. japonica. Toward the development of male sterile technology for Cryptomeria japonica, a male strobilus-dominant promoter of C.

Xyloglucan for generating tensile stress to bend tree stem.

In response to environmental variation, angiosperm trees bend their stems by forming tension wood, which consists of a cellulose-rich G (gelatinous)-layer in the walls of fiber cells and generates abnormal tensile stress in the secondary xylem. We produced transgenic poplar plants overexpressing several endoglycanases to reduce each specific polysaccharide in the cell wall, as the secondary xylem consists of primary and secondary wall layers. When placed horizontally, the basal regions of stems of transgenic poplars overexpressing xyloglucanase alone could not bend upward due to low strain in the tension side of the xylem.

A frameshift mutation of the chloroplast matK coding region is associated with chlorophyll deficiency in the Cryptomeria japonica virescent mutant Wogon-Sugi.

Wogon-Sugi has been reported as a cytoplasmically inherited virescent mutant selected from a horticultural variety of Cryptomeria japonica. Although previous studies of plastid structure and inheritance indicated that at least some mutations are encoded by the chloroplast genome, the causative gene responsible for the primary chlorophyll deficiency in Wogon-Sugi, has not been identified. In this study, we identified this gene by genomic sequencing of chloroplast DNA and genetic analysis.

Complete nucleotide sequence of the Cryptomeria japonica D. Don. chloroplast genome and comparative chloroplast genomics: diversified genomic structure of coniferous species.

Background: The recent determination of complete chloroplast (cp) genomic sequences of various plant species has enabled numerous comparative analyses as well as advances in plant and genome evolutionary studies. In angiosperms, the complete cp genome sequences of about 70 species have been determined, whereas those of only three gymnosperm species, Cycas taitungensis, Pinus thunbergii, and Pinus koraiensis have been established. The lack of information regarding the gene content and genomic structure of gymnosperm cp genomes may severely hamper further progress of plant and cp genome evolutionary studies.

Regeneration of transgenic Cryptomeria japonica D. Don after Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of embryogenic tissue.

A genetic transformation procedure for Cryptomeria japonica was developed after co-cultivation of embryogenic tissues with the disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58/pMP90, which harbours the visual reporter gene sgfp and two selectable marker genes, hpt and nptII. We were able to generate eight and three independent transgenic lines per gram of embryogenic tissue after selection on hygromycin and kanamycin medium, respectively. Transgenic plants were regenerated through somatic embryogenesis in 4 lines out of these 11 lines.

[Investigation of the variation of Cry j 2 concentration in pollen among sugi (Cryptomeria japonica d. Don) trees using a newly established extraction method].

Background: Selection of low-allergen trees is under consideration for the reduction of Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) pollinosis. The extraction method of Cry j 2 was established and then the variation of Cry j 2 concentrations in pollen among Sugi trees was investigated.

Methods: The extraction efficiency of Cry j 2 was compared among buffers with different pH, ionic species and NaCl concentration.

Influences of genetic and environmental factors on the concentration of the allergen Cry j 1 in sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) pollen.

Pollen from sugi (Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica D. Don), a forest tree species that is widely grown in Japan, causes serious allergic disease. The major allergens from sugi pollen, Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, have been isolated and characterized.

Tandem repeat DNA localizing on the proximal DAPI bands of chromosomes in Larix, Pinaceae.

Repetitive DNA was cloned from HindIII-digested genomic DNA of Larix leptolepis. The repetitive DNA was about 170 bp long, had an AT content of 67%, and was organized tandemly in the genome. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization and subsequent DAPI banding, the repetitive DNA was localized in DAPI bands at the proximal region of one arm of chromosomes in L.