Promoter diversity in multigene transformation

Abstract

Multigene transformation (MGT) is becoming routine in plant biotechnology as researchers seek to generate more complex and ambitious phenotypes in transgenic plants. Every nuclear transgene requires its own promoter, so when coordinated expression is required, the introduction of multiple genes leads inevitably to two opposing strategies: different promoters may be used for each transgene, or the same promoter may be used over and over again. In the former case, there may be a shortage of different promoters with matching activities, but repetitious promoter use may in some cases have a negative impact on transgene stability and expression. Using illustrative case studies, we discuss promoter deployment strategies in transgenic plants that increase the likelihood of successful and stable multiple transgene expression.

Work in our laboratory is supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (BFU2007-61413 and BIO2007-30738-E), a European Research Council Advanced Grant (BIOFORCE) to PC, and the CONSOLIDER Agrigenomics program funded by MICINN, Spain