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的Jeffrey Bennetzen博士和两位英国植物生物学家在遗传学方面的合作研究：剑桥AFRC植物科学研究所的Michael Bevan博士和诺维奇Sainsbury实验室的Jonathan Jones博士。玉米转座子Ac已导入番茄植株。这些转基因植物支持随后切除ac元件，并将其转移到番茄基因组中的新染色体位置。在番茄植株中引入ac元件可以阻断抗生素抗性基因，而带有新切除/转座的ac元件的植物可以通过获得的抗生素抗性来鉴定。与乔纳森·琼斯博士的实验室合作，首席研究员将使用限制性片段长度多态性(RFLP)技术来定位转基因西红柿中的原始和转座ac元件。这些研究将确定Ac在番茄中的插入特异性，并将建立一个在连锁和非连锁染色体位置具有Ac元件的品系目录。根据迈克尔·贝万博士在诺里奇的实验室目前正在进行的小麦和大麦转化研究以及本尼岑博士实验室正在进行的玉米、高粱和小米转化研究的现状，研究人员还建议将这些基因工程的ac元素引入到这些重要作物物种中的一个或多个。所产生的材料将使未来在这些植物物种中的转座子生物学、突变和标记方面的研究计划成为可能。这项研究对于进一步开发从重要经济植物中分离与农艺相关的基因的方法是及时而重要的。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.