Functional study of the potato snakin-1 gene promoter in transgenic plants

ALMASIA N I; NAHIRÑAK V; HOPP H E; DEL VAS M; VAZQUEZ ROVERE C

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; XLV Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB 2009); 2009

Snakin-1 (SN1) gene encodes for a peptide isolated from potato tubers with in-vitro and in-vivo antimicrobial properties. We had previously reported the cloning, sequencing and analysis of a 1421bp promoter region placed upstream of Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum cv Kennebec SN1 gene and its tissue-specific regulation in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The aim of this work was to study the specific expression and regulation of SN1 activity in potato upon the analysis of transgenic lines harboring SN1 promoter region fused to betaglucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. GUS activity was tissue- and time-specific being highest in storage and reproductive organs during the first weeks of potato plant development. To gain more insight into the factors that regulate potato SN1 activity the influence of different growth regulators, biotic and abiotic conditions on SN1 promoter activity was also analyzed. SN1 promoter was strongly induced in response to shock high or low temperatures or after gibberellic acid treatments. Nevertheless, the promoter activity remained unchanged after wounding, light treatment, salt stress or fungal pathogen infections. In conclusion, these results are similar to the ones reported for heterologous expression and suggest that SN1 promoter is a candidate sequence potentially useful for plant genetic engineering approaches.