High frequency of single-copy T-DNA transformants produced by floral dip in CRE-expressing Arabidopsis plants

Plant J. 2009 Aug;59(4):517-27. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2009.03889.x. Epub 2009 Apr 6.

Abstract

For genetic transformation of plants, floral dip with Agrobacterium often results in integration of multiple T-DNA copies at a single locus and frequently in low and unstable transgene expression. To obtain efficient single-copy T-DNA transformants, two CRE/loxP recombinase-based simplifying strategies for complex T-DNA loci were compared. A T-DNA vector with oppositely oriented loxP sites was transformed into CRE-expressing and wild-type control Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Of the primary CRE-expressing transformants, 55% harboured a single copy of the introduced T-DNA, but only 15% in the wild-type plants. However, 73% of the single-copy transformants in the CRE background showed continuous somatic inversion of the DNA segment between the two loxP sites. To avoid inversion of the loxP-flanked T-DNA segment, two T-DNA vectors harbouring only one loxP site were investigated for their suitability for CRE/loxP recombinase-mediated resolution upon floral-dip transformation into CRE-expressing plants. On average, 70% of the transformants in the CRE background were single-copy transformants, whereas the single-copy T-DNA frequency was only 11% for both vectors in the wild-type background. Both resolution strategies yielded mostly Cre transformants in which the 35S-driven transgene expression was stable and uniform in the progeny and remarkably, also in Cre transformants with multiple T-DNA copies. Therefore, a role is proposed for the CRE recombinase in preventing inverted T-DNA repeat formation or modifying the locus chromatin structure, resulting in a reduced sensitivity for silencing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics*
  • DNA, Plant / genetics
  • Flowers / genetics
  • Gene Dosage
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Genetic Vectors
  • Integrases / genetics*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plants, Genetically Modified / genetics*
  • Plasmids
  • Rhizobium / genetics
  • Transformation, Genetic
  • Transgenes

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • DNA, Plant
  • T-DNA
  • Cre recombinase
  • Integrases