The effect of altered codon usage on luciferase activity in tobacco, maize and wheat

A comparison of the wild-type firefly luciferase reporter gene to a codon-modified gene, available from Promega, demonstrates that in tobacco cell cultures, an increase in G+C content of 1.8%, as a consequence of 36 A/T→G/C synonymous codon alterations and removal of the lysosomal targeting sequence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant cell reports 1998-03, Vol.17 (5), p.396-399
Main Authors: LONSDALE, D. M, MOISAN, L. J, HARVEY, A. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Biotechnology
Corn
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes
Genetic engineering
Genetic technics
Methods. Procedures. Technologies
Modification of gene expression level
Nicotiana tabacum
Proteins
Triticum aestivum
Wheat
Zea mays
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Summary:A comparison of the wild-type firefly luciferase reporter gene to a codon-modified gene, available from Promega, demonstrates that in tobacco cell cultures, an increase in G+C content of 1.8%, as a consequence of 36 A/T→G/C synonymous codon alterations and removal of the lysosomal targeting sequence, has no significant effect on expression. In maize Black Mexican Sweet cells and wheat scutellum, increases in activity of 14- to 23-fold and 53- to 59-fold, respectively, are obtained using the codon-modified luciferase with the UBI1 promoter and its leader intron. The observed increase in luc+ expression is most likely a consequence of differences in codon usage reflecting tRNA abundance rather than an increase in the efficiency of intron splicing resulting from the small increase in the G+C content of the coding sequence. This difference in light emission between the wild-type and codon-modified luciferases can be clearly visualised in a low-light imaging camera, making the latter a much more sensitive and useful reporter gene for detecting luciferase activity in vivo.
ISSN:0721-7714
1432-203X
DOI:10.1007/s002990050413