Isolation of the Flanking Sequences Adjacent to Transgenic T-DNA in Brassica napus Genome by an Improved Inverse PCR Method

[Objective] The research aimed to isolate flanking sequences adjacent to the transgenic T-DNA in Brassica napus by an improved inverse PCR method.[Method] Using single clone of transgenic FS4 in Brassica napus as the research materials,total DNA was extracted from transgenic Brassica napus by using modified CTAB method.After enzyme digestion and purification,self-joining was made.Two circles of nested PCR and the sequence alignment were carried out.[Result] A fragement with the size of 4.0 kb was amplified ...

Ac/Ds Transposition Activity in Transgenic Rice Population and DNA Flanking Sequence of Ds Insertion Sites

The Agrobacterium mediated transgenic rice ( Oryza saliva L.) population with inserts of maize transposon Activator/Dissociation (Ac/Ds) was investigated. DNA sequences flanking the T-DNA were analyzed with inverse PCR. Results showed that 65.4% of the T-DNA was integrated in different locations of rice genome, and some T-DNA flanking sequences were located on certain chromosomes. A number of T-DNA was found to have inserted into protein coding regions. In order to induce transposition of the inserted Ds elements, 354 crosses of Ac x Ds and Ds x Ac were constructed. The excision frequency of Ds element trans-activated by Ac transposase was 22.7% in the F-2 populations, and the transposition was confirmed with analyses of DNA sequences flanking the Ds elements. In addition to the transposition due to 'cut-paste' mechanism, Ds can replicate itself and integrate into a new locus, and inaccurate excisions were also found. A proportion of DNA segments flanking the Ds elements showed no homologies to sequences published in GenBank, of which two were registered under the accession numbers AF355153 and AF355770. The strategy of using transposon tagging for rice genomics study was discussed.

Analysis of the Flanking Sequence and EventSpecific Detection of Transgenic Line W-4 of Brassica napus

The genetically modified high-oleic rapeseed （Brassica napus L.） line W-4 was obtained by transforming a binary vector which harbored an inverted repeat expression cassette of fad2 gene into the rapeseed cultivar Westar.The transformation was mediated by Agrobacterium.The flanking sequences to both the left and right borders of T-DNA insertion site were amplified by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR （TAIL-PCR） from the genomic DNA of the transgenic rapeseed line W-4.The flanking sequences to the right border was 290 bp in length and the nucleotide composition was 31.27％ for G＋C content while 68.73％ for A＋T content.The flanking sequence to the left border was 365 bp in length and the G＋C content was 32.6％ and the A＋T content was 67.4％,indicating that the T-DNA was integrated in the A/T-rich region.Further more,sequence alignment analysis showed a deletion of 62 bp including the right border of pCNFIRnos and the integration of the whole left border except a change of G to A.That was to say,the integration of the T-DNA in the transgenic line W-4 not involved in the vector sequences.Based on both flanking sequences as well as the left and right borders of the T-DNA sequences,two pairs of specific primers TLF/TLR and TRF/TRR were designed.Using the primers the event-specific PCR detection method for transgenic rapeseed line W-4 was established.By the PCR,two fragments of 485 and 405 bp were amplified from the W-4 genomic DNA as expected,while no products were amplified from the genomic DNA of other transgenic rapeseed lines and non-transgenic rapeseed line.And by the PCR it is possible to detect the W-4 genomic DNA from a mixed sample of genomic DNA.The limit of the detection for the qualitative PCR assay was 0.1％.The method developed in this work is highly specific,sensitive and suitable for event-specific detection of the transgenic rapeseed line W-4.

Generation and Analysis of Pathogenicity-related Gene Mutants of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Using a Novel Promoter Trapping System

Agrobactedum tumefac/ens-mediated transformation （ATMT） is an efficient tool for insertional mutagenesis and is used in a wide variety of plants. This paper reports a promoter trapping method to generate mutants in the filamentous fungus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, by ATMT insertion of a trapping vector （pCAHPH） that carries a promoterless hygromycin phosphotransferase （hph） gone. Transformants were selected on the media containing 200 ~mL hy^omycin B, and screened for pathogenicity-related gene mdtants. Their pathogenicity-related mutants T-DNA flanking sequences were then cloned and analyzed. Hph genes were amplified from mutant genomic DNA but not from wild-type DNA, indicating that the phenotypic alternations of these mutants were the results of T-DNA inser- tion. T-DNA flanking sequences were obtained using modified themud asymmetric interlaced PCR. Two right-sided flanking sequences were highly homologous to proteins from other species.

Transgenic japonica rice expressing the cry1C gene is resistant to striped stem borers in Northeast China

Rice production and quality are seriously affected by the lepidopteran pest,striped stem borer(SSB),in Northeast China.In this study,a synthetic cry1 C gene encoding Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt)δ-endotoxin,which is toxic to lepidopteran pest,was transformed into a japonica rice variety(Jigeng 88)in Northeast China by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.Through molecular detection and the Basta resistance germination assay,a total of 16 single-copy homozygous transgenic lines were obtained from 126 independent transformants expressing cry1 C.Finally,four cry1 C-transgenic lines(JL16,JL23,JL41,and JL42)were selected by evaluation of the Cry1 C protein level,insect-resistance and agronomic traits.The cry1 C-transgenic lines had higher resistance to SSB and higher yield compared with non-transgenic(NT)control plants.T-DNA flanking sequence analysis of the transgenic line JL42 showed that the cry1 C gene was inserted into the intergenic region of chromosome 11,indicating that its insertion may not interfere with the genes near insertion site.In summary,this study developed four cry1 C-transgenic japonica rice lines with high insect resistance and high yield.They can be used as insect-resistant germplasm materials to overcome the problem of rice yield reduction caused by SSB and reduce the use of pesticides in Northeast China.

Establishment of TaqMan Real-time Quantitative PCR Assay for Foreign Gene Copy Numbers in Transgenic Soybean

TaqMan quantitative PCR technique was used to detect the copies of exogenous CaMV35S flanks sequence in transgenic soybean. With soybean lectin as the endogenous reference gene, and gene complex DNA in non-GMO soybeans as the endogenous reference standard, the gradient dilution method was used to separately calculate Ct value of endogenous reference gene and plasmid DNA and correlation standard curve equation of logarithm of copies, and then to calculate the copies of samples through substituting thus-obtained Ct into the standard curve equation. The standard curve equation of endogenous reference gene was y =–3.422x＋35.201, R2=0.998; the standard curve equation of exogenous gene was y =–3.495x＋35.303, R2=0.999. The sample copies was got by putting Ct value into the standard curve equation, and it was the ratio of exogenous gene and reference gene. We found that CaMV35S gene in transgenic soy was single copy.

Comparative analysis of mitochondrial fragments transferred to the nucleus in vertebrate

Mitochondrial DNA sequences transferred to the nucleus give rise to the so-called nuclear mitochondrial DNA （numt）. In the GenBank database, 244 numts have been found in six orders of birds （Anseriformes, Columbiformes, Falconiformes, Charadriiformes, Galliformes and Passeriformes）. Sequences alignment （NCBI-BLASTN） was carded out with mitochondrial and corresponding nuclear genome sequences in nine vertebrate species. The sequences with high homology were considered as numts. The number of numts ranged from 15 in chicken to 159 in chimpanzee. The sequences of numts in macaque, chimpanzee, and human spanned 100% of the entire mammalian mitochondrial genome. The reconstructed frequency of the mitochondrial gene transferred to the nucleus demonstrated that the rRNA genes had high frequencies than other mitochondrial genes. Using the RepeatMasker program, the transposable elements were detected in the flanking regions of each numt. The results showed that less than 5% of the flanking sequences were made up of repetitive elements in chicken. The GC content of 5＇- and 3＇-flanking regions of numts in nine species was less than 44%. The analysis of the flanking sequences provided a valuable understanding for future study on mechanism of mitochondrial gene transfer to the nucleus and the site of numt integration.

Development of an Event-specific Quantitative PCR for Genetically Modified Maize (Zea mays) Event NK603

[ Objective ] The aim of this study was to develop a quantitative PCR detection method for genetically modified maize event NK603, so as to provide ba- sis for quantitative analysis of event NK603. [ Methods ] A quantitative PCR detection method for genetically modified maize event NK603 was developed using primers and Taqman probe designed according to the flanking sequence of event NK603, which was then adopted to detect the samples containing 2% NK603 stand- ard （with uncertain quantity of 10% ）. [ Results ] The slope of standard curve ranged between -3.6 and -3.1, and the correlation coefficient was higher than 0. 99. The amplification efficiency of this method reached 100.2%, fallen between 90% and 110%. The detected quantity of the experimental sample was 1.9%, closer to the true quantity （2%）. [ Conclusion] This quantitative PCR detection method for genetically modified maize event NK603 is very precise and can be a- dopted in routine testing analysis.

Roles of flanking sequences in the binding between unimolecular parallel-stranded G-quadruplexes and ligands

G-quadruplexes attract more and more attention in recent years.Numerous small molecules which can induce or stabilize the formation of G-quadruplexes have been investigated on the purpose of anticancer drug development.As a motif existed in physiological condition,flanking sequences are an important part of G-quadruplexes but the study on the impact of flanking sequences on (G-quadruplex)-ligand binding is rarely reported.In this paper,the effects of flanking sequences on binding affinity between a series of unimolecular parallel-stranded G-quadruplex sequences derived from c-myc oncogene promoter (termed as c-myc G-quadruplexes) and their ligands are discussed in detail.The results showed that the flanking sequences on c-myc G-quadruplexes play key roles in (G-quadruplex)-ligand interaction.When a c-myc G-quadruplex is bound to its ligands,the flanking sequences might form a binding cavity above the terminal G-quartet,which could provide a suitable site for ligands to dock in.Moreover,the bases on flanking sequences could interact with ligand through π-π stacking,and finally form a sandwich-stacking mode (terminal G-quartet,ligand and bases on the flanking sequence).This mode could stabilize the (G-quadruplex)-ligand complex effectively and enhance the binding affinity dramatically.However,flanking sequences are also found to exhibit steric hindrance effect which could impede the (G-quadruplex)-ligand binding.

Reading Time and DNA Sequence Preference of TET3 CXXC Domain Revealed by Single-Molecule Profiling

Recognition of CpG dinucleotide DNA in epigenetic information flow plays a pivotal role for cellular differentiation and development.The TET3 CXXC domain binds to CpG DNA,serving a basic epigenetic information reading mechanism.During the selective recognition of a CpG motif by a CXXC domain from crowded binding sites in a gene sequence,the protein-DNA interactions are beyond CpG dinu-cleotide.However,the selective binding dynamics of CpG within a long DNA context by epigenetic enzymes have been rarely exploit-ed,which is hard for ensemble methods to probe.Here,we used single-molecule magnetic tweezers to quantitatively examine the dynamics of TET3's CXXC domain on a Hoxa9 promoter DNA.Our single-molecule binding profile revealed that CXXC-DNA interactions involve both CpG motifs and their flanking sequences.The residence time of TET3 CXXC differs by about 1000 times in five distin-guished CpG clusters in the context of a CpG island.Moreover,we performed multi-state hidden Markov modeling analysis on the zip-ping/unzipping dynamics of a CpG hairpin,discovering TET3 CXXC's preference on CpG motifs regarding the-2 to+2 flanking bases.Our results shed light on the selective binding dynamics of a CXXC on a gene sequence,facilitating studies on epigenetic information reading mechanisms.

Effort and Contribution of T-DNA Insertion Mutant Library for Rice Functional Genomics Research in China:Review and Perspective

With the completion of the rice （Oryza sativa L.） genome-sequencing project, the rice research community proposed to characterize the func- tion of every predicted gene in rice by 2020. One of the most effective and high-throughput strategies for studying gene function is to employ genetic mutations induced by insertion elements such as T-DNA or transposons. Since 1999, with support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China for Rice Functional Genomics Programs, large-scale T-DNA insertion mutant populations have been generated in Huazhong Agricultural University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Currently, a total of 372,346 mutant lines have been generated, and 58,226 T-DNA or Tos17 flanking sequence tags have been isolated. Using these mutant resources, more than 40 genes with potential applications in rice breeding have already been identified. These include genes involved in biotic or abiotic stress responses, nutrient metabolism, pollen development, and plant architecture. The functional analysis of these genes will not only deepen our understanding of the fundamental biological questions in rice, but will also offer valuable gene resources for developing Green Super Rice that is high-yielding with few inputs even under the poor growth conditions of many regions of Africa and Asia.