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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #135941
Title: A STRONG INHIBITOR OF GENE EXPRESSION IN THE 5' UNTRANSLATED REGION OF THE POLLEN-SPECIFIC LAT59 GENE OF TOMATO

Author
item CURIE, C - USDA/UCB PGEC
item McCormick, Sheila

Submitted to: The Plant Cell
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: We show that the LAT59 sequences encoding the 5' untranslated region inhibit expression of reporter genes by gt 20-fold in transient expression experiments and up to 300-fold after stable transformation.

Technical Abstract: Promoter sequences that direct pollen-specific expression have been previously identified in the LAT59 for late anther tomato gene. Here, we show that the LAT59 sequences encoding the 5' untranslated region inhibit expression of reporter genes by gt 20-fold in transient expression experiments and up to 300-fold after stable transformation. Inhibition occurred in somatic cells as well as in pollen. Our results indicate that the inhibitor still functions after pollen germination and therefore does not modulate the level of the LAT59 protein during pollen development. The presence of the leader sequence dramatically decreased mRNA accumulation but without affecting translation rate and mRNA stability. We believe that the leader inhibits transcription. We mapped the inhibitor to a region in the leader that coincides with a putative stem-loop and present evidence that this stem-loop participates in inhibition.