US-UK Cooperative Research: Generation and Characterizationof Transgenic Plants Carrying the Maize Transposable Elements Ac

该奖项将支持普渡大学Jeffrey Bennetzen博士和两位英国植物生物学家之间的遗传学合作研究：剑桥AFRC植物科学研究所的Michael Bevan博士和诺里奇Sainsbury实验室的Jonathan Jones博士。将玉米转座因子Ac引入番茄植株。这些转基因植物支持随后的Ac元件切除及其在番茄基因组内移动到新的染色体位点。引入番茄植株的Ac元件中断了一个抗生素抗性基因，新切除/转置Ac元件的植株可以通过其获得的抗生素抗性来鉴定。在与Jonathan Jones博士的实验室（其研究人员生成了这些材料）的合作中，首席研究员将使用限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）技术来绘制转基因西红柿中的原始和转置Ac元件。这些研究将确定Ac在番茄中的插入特异性，并将建立在连接和非连接染色体位点上具有Ac元件的品系目录。根据Michael Bevan博士在诺里奇的实验室对小麦和大麦的转化以及Bennetzen博士的实验室对玉米、高粱和小米的转化研究的现状，研究人员还建议将这些经过改造的Ac元素引入一种或多种重要的作物物种中。所产生的材料将允许未来在这些植物物种的转座子生物学、诱变和标记方面的研究项目。本研究对进一步开发从重要经济植物中分离农艺相关基因的方法具有重要意义。该项目将受益于研究人员在转基因植物基因表达领域的互补专业知识。

This award will support collaborative research in genetics between Dr. Jeffrey Bennetzen, Purdue University, and two British plant biologists: Dr. Michael Bevan, AFRC Institute of Plant Science Research, Cambridge, and Dr. Jonathan Jones, Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich. The maize transposable element Ac has been introduced into tomato plants. These transgenic plants support subsequent excision of the Ac element and its movement to new chromosomal sites within the tomato genome. The Ac element introduced into the tomato plants interrupts an antibiotic resistance gene, and plants with newly excised/transposed Ac elements can be identified via their acquired antibiotic resistance. In collaboration with Dr. Jonathan Jones' laboratory, whose researchers generated these materials, the principal investigator will employ restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technology to map original and transposed Ac elements in transgenic tomatoes. These studies will determine the insertion specificity of Ac in tomato and will establish a catalogue of lines with Ac elements at linked and unlinked chromosomal sites. Depending upon the status of currently ongoing studies in transformation of wheat and barley at Dr. Michael Bevan's laboratory in Norwich and of maize, sorghum and millet in Dr. Bennetzen's laboratory, the investigators also propose to introduce these engineered Ac elements into one or more of these important crop species. The materials generated will allow future research programs in transposon biology, mutagenesis and tagging in these plant species. The proposed research is timely and very important for further development of methods of isolating agronomically relevant genes from economically important plants. The project will benefit from the complementary expertise of the investigators in the area of gene expression in transgenic plants.