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Ubi1 intron-mediated enhancement of the expression of Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize (Zea mays L.)

  • Articles/Gene Engineering
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The cry1Ah gene was one of novel insecticidal genes cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis isolate BT8. Two plant expression vectors containing cry1Ah gene were constructed. The first intron of maize ubiqutin1 gene was inserted between the maize Ubiquitin promoter and cry1Ah gene in one of the plant expressing vectors (pUUOAH). The two vectors were introduced into maize immature embryonic calli by microprojectile bombardment, and the reproductively plants were acquired. PCR and Southern blot analysis showed that foreign genes had been integrated into maize genome and inherited to the next generation stably. The ELISA assay to T1 and T2 generation plants showed that the expression of Cry1Ah protein in the construct containing the ubi1 intron (pUUOAH) was 20% higher than that of the intronless construct (pUOAH). Bioassay results showed that the transgenic maize harboring cry1Ah gene had high resistance to the Asian corn borers and the insecticidal activity of the transgenic maize containing the ubi1 intron was higher than that of the intronless construct. These results indicated that the maize ubi1 intron can enhance the expression of the Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize efficiently

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    YueBing Wang, Zhihong Lang & DaFang Huang

  2. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China

    Jie Zhang, KangLai He & FuPing Song

Authors
  1. YueBing Wang
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  2. Zhihong Lang
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  3. Jie Zhang
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  4. KangLai He
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  5. FuPing Song
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  6. DaFang Huang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to DaFang Huang.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30500039), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2003CB114201) and Basic Scientific Research Foundation for Chinese Central Academy (Biotechnology Research Institute, CAAS)

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Wang, Y., Lang, Z., Zhang, J. et al. Ubi1 intron-mediated enhancement of the expression of Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize (Zea mays L.). Chin. Sci. Bull. 53, 3185–3190 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0379-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0379-1

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