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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #157374
Title: A SCREEN OF VIRAL INTERGENIC DNA SEQUENCE REPEATS FOR TRANSCRIPTION ENHANCING ACTIVITY

Author
item Velten, Jeffrey
item Cazzonelli, Christopher
item MOREY, KEVIN - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Journal of Virology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/24/2005
Publication Date: 2/24/2005
Citation: Velten, J.P., Morey, K.J., Cazzonelli, C.I. 2005. Plant viral intergenic DNA sequence repeats with transcription enhancing activity. Journal of Virology. 2:16.

Interpretive Summary: Plant virus genomes were examined for DNA sequences likely to be able to enhance gene expression when included as part of gene control systems for plants. Over one hundred candidate sequesnces were tested and of those eleven were found to up-regulate gene expression in plants transiently expressiong a test reporter gene (luciferase -emits light). The positive DNA sequences will be included in synthetic gene control systems under development for use in expressing desirable genes in crop plants.

Technical Abstract: DNA sequence from the intergenic regions of 28 geminiviruses or nanoviruses was scanned for repeated sequence elements to be tested as possible transcription enhancing components. The 84 elements identified were synthesized as cassettes containing the duplicated elements in their original orientation. These cassettes were assayed for their ability to enhance transcription when placed immediately upstream from aminimal plant-functional promoter. Using an Agrobacteria-based transient assay, 11 elements measurably increased reporter gene expression (>25% activity increase), while 73 elements proved inactive. All the active elements identified are direct repeats, although roughly equal numbers of inverted repeats were tested.