Transient gene expression in tobacco using Gibson assembly and the Gene Gun

In order to target a single protein to multiple subcellular organelles, plants typically duplicate the relevant genes, and express each gene separately using complex regulatory strategies including differential promoters and/or signal sequences. Metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists intereste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of visualized experiments 2014-04 (86)
Main Authors: Mattozzi, Matthew D, Voges, Mathias J, Silver, Pamela A, Way, Jeffrey C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biolistics - instrumentation
Biolistics - methods
Environmental Sciences
Gene Expression
Green Fluorescent Proteins - biosynthesis
Green Fluorescent Proteins - genetics
Microscopy, Confocal
Nicotiana - genetics
Nicotiana - metabolism
Plasmids - genetics
Recombinant Proteins - biosynthesis
Recombinant Proteins - genetics
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Summary:In order to target a single protein to multiple subcellular organelles, plants typically duplicate the relevant genes, and express each gene separately using complex regulatory strategies including differential promoters and/or signal sequences. Metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists interested in targeting enzymes to a particular organelle are faced with a challenge: For a protein that is to be localized to more than one organelle, the engineer must clone the same gene multiple times. This work presents a solution to this strategy: harnessing alternative splicing of mRNA. This technology takes advantage of established chloroplast and peroxisome targeting sequences and combines them into a single mRNA that is alternatively spliced. Some splice variants are sent to the chloroplast, some to the peroxisome, and some to the cytosol. Here the system is designed for multiple-organelle targeting with alternative splicing. In this work, GFP was expected to be expressed in the chloroplast, cytosol, and peroxisome by a series of rationally designed 5' mRNA tags. These tags have the potential to reduce the amount of cloning required when heterologous genes need to be expressed in multiple subcellular organelles. The constructs were designed in previous work(11), and were cloned using Gibson assembly, a ligation independent cloning method that does not require restriction enzymes. The resultant plasmids were introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana epidermal leaf cells with a modified Gene Gun protocol. Finally, transformed leaves were observed with confocal microscopy.
ISSN:1940-087X
1940-087X
DOI:10.3791/51234