Tissue-Specific and Developmental Expression of Lectin Genesin Cereals and Rice

谷物和水稻中凝集素基因的组织特异性和发育性表达：分子遗传学和免疫细胞化学方法将用于研究控制凝集素合成的组织特异性基因表达的过程。这一办法将包括以下阶段：A)小麦胚芽凝集素和水稻凝集素基因组序列的鉴定；B)分析和诱变这些基因的启动子序列，c)转化实验来检查特定基因结构是如何表达的。凝集素在近缘种作物草不同细胞间的差异定位，为研究近缘种蛋白的细胞特异性和组织特异性表达提供了模型系统。它提供了一个独特的机会来回答植物基因工程的重要问题，例如，小麦胚芽凝集素基因引入水稻后将如何表达？这种模式会和小麦或大米中的相似吗？哪些基因序列决定了不同组织中相似蛋白的表达模式？最后，可能产生的缺乏凝集素的植物可能会回答生物体中凝集素功能的困惑之谜。

Tissue-Specific and Developmental Expression of Lectin Genes in Cereals and Rice: Molecular genetics and immuno cytochemical approaches will be used to study processes that control tissue- specific gene expression of lectin synthesis. The approach will consist of the following stages; a) characterization of genomic sequences of wheat germ agglutinin and rice lectins; b) analysis and mutagenesis of promoter sequences of these genes, c) transformation experiments to examine how specific gene constructs are expressed. The differential localization of lectins among different cells of closely related species of crop grasses provides a model system for studying cell-and tissue-specific expression of closely related proteins. It provides a unique opportunity to answer questions important to the genetic engineering of plants e.g. How will wheat germ agglutinin genes be expressed when introduced into rice? Will the pattern be similar to that found in wheat or in rice? What are the gene sequences responsible for determining the pattern of expression of similar proteins in different tissues? Finally the potential creation of lectin- deficient plants could possibly answer the perplexing riddle of lectin function in organisms.