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Elicitor-responsive promoter regions in the tryptophan decarboxylase gene from Catharanthus roseus

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Abstract

The tryptophan decarboxylase (Tdc) gene from Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle) encodes a key enzyme in biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids. The expression of the Tdc gene is transcriptionally induced by fungal elicitors. Tdc upstream sequences from −1818 to +198 relative to the transcriptional start site were functionally analysed to identify cis-acting elements that determine basal expression or respond to elicitor. In a loss-of-function analysis promoter derivatives with 5′ or internal deletions fused to the gusA reporter gene were analysed in transgenic tobacco plants. Whereas promoter activity dropped considerably following deletion down to −160, this short promoter derivative was still elicitor-responsive. Subsequently, the −160 to −37 region was further studied by gain-of-function experiments, in which subfragments were tested as tetramers cloned on two different truncated promoters. Combination of the data resulted in the identification of three functional regions in the −160 promoter. The region between −160 to −99 was shown to act as the main transcriptional enhancer. Two separable elicitor-responsive elements were found to reside between −99 and −87 and between −87 and −37. These two elements are not redundant in the Tdc promoter, since their combination gave a distinct elicitor response.

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  1. Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, Leiden University, Clusius Laboratory, Wassenaarseweg 64, 2333 AL, Leiden, Netherlands

    Pieter B.F. Ouwerkerk & Johan Memelink

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  1. Pieter B.F. Ouwerkerk
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Ouwerkerk, P.B., Memelink, J. Elicitor-responsive promoter regions in the tryptophan decarboxylase gene from Catharanthus roseus. Plant Mol Biol 39, 129–136 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006138601744

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