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R M Twyman

Publications and source records attributed to R M Twyman.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Alternative silencing effects involve distinct types of non-spreading cytosine methylation at a three-gene, single-copy transgenic locus in rice.

We investigated transgene silencing in a line of rice plants that carries a single-copy 6.6-kb transgenic locus comprising three heterologous transgenes: bar, hpt and gusA. We identified at least three distinct types of silencing effects associated with different methylation patterns, including a novel form of transcriptional silencing involving methylation of cytosine residues only at non-conventional acceptor sites in the coding region. Silencing arose de novo in individual R1, R2 and R3 plants despite the stability of the transgenic locus, although the basic structure of the locus, transgene dosage and position effects remained constant within the line. We found that different silencing effects could occur concurrently in adjacent heterologous transgenes in the same plant, with no evidence for spreading of silenced states or methylation patterns from one transgene to another.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Linear transgene constructs lacking vector backbone sequences generate low-copy-number transgenic plants with simple integration patterns.

Whole plasmids are used in both Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and direct DNA transfer, generally leading to the integration of vector backbone sequences into the host genome along with the transgene(s). This is undesirable, as vector backbone sequences often have negative effects on transgene or endogenous gene expression, and can promote transgene rearrangements. We, therefore, bombarded rice tissue with two constructs: a plasmid containing the bar gene, and a linear DNA fragment isolated from the same plasmid, corresponding to the minimal bar gene expression cassette (promoter, open reading frame and terminator). We recovered phosphinothricin-resistant plants from both experiments, showing that the selectable marker was efficiently expressed. Transformation with such constructs resulted in predominantly 'simple' integration events (one or two bands on Southern blots), producing low-copy-number transgenic plants with a low frequency of transgene rearrangements. Conversely, transformation with supercoiled or linearized whole plasmids generated plants with 'complex' integration patterns, that is, higher copy numbers and frequent transgene rearrangements. We monitored transgenic lines through to the R4 generation and observed no silencing in plants carrying minimal constructs. We also carried out experiments in which rice tissue was simultaneously bombarded with minimal linear hpt and gusA cassettes. We observed robust GUS activity in hygromycin-resistant plants, confirming co-expression of the selectable and nonselectable markers. Furthermore, the efficiency of cotransformation using minimal constructs was the same as that using supercoiled plasmid cointegrate vectors.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed1999

Molecular characterization of transforming plasmid rearrangements in transgenic rice reveals a recombination hotspot in the CaMV 35S promoter and confirms the predominance of microhomology mediated recombination.

The characterization of plasmid-genomic DNA junctions following plant transformation has established links between DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR), illegitimate recombination and plasmid DNA integration. The limited information on plasmid-plasmid junctions in plants comes from the dicot species tobacco and Arabidopsis. We analyzed 12 representative transgenic rice lines, carrying a range of transforming plasmid rearrangements, which predominantly reflected microhomology mediated illegitimate recombination involving short complementary patches at the recombining ends. Direct end-ligation, in the absence of homology between the recombining molecules, occurred only rarely. Filler DNA was found at some of the junctions. Short, purine-rich tracts were present, either at the junction site or in the immediate flanking regions. Putative DNA topoisomerase I binding sites were clustered around the junctions. Although different regions of the transforming plasmid were involved in plasmid-plasmid recombination, we showed that a 19 bp palindromic sequence, including the TATA box of the CaMV 35S promoter, acted as a recombination hotspot. The purine-rich half of the palindromic sequence was specifically involved at the recombination junctions. This recombination hotspot is located within the 'highly recombinogenic' region of the full-length CaMV RNA that has been shown to promote viral recombination in dicot plants. Clustering of plasmid recombination events in this highly recombinogenic region, even in the absence of viral enzymes and other cis-acting elements proves that the plant cellular machinery alone is sufficient to recognize and act on these viral sequences. Our data also show the similarity between mechanisms underlying junction formation in dicot and monocot plants transformed using different procedures.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Sequences in the proximal 5' flanking region of the rat neuron-specific enolase (NSE) gene are sufficient for cell type-specific reporter gene expression.

We investigated the regulation of the rat neuron-specific enolase gene using a transient transfection approach. Recent transgenic mouse studies have shown that a 1.8-kb segment of the rat NSE gene 5' flanking region, including the first (noncoding) exon but not the first intron, is able to drive expression of a reporter gene in parallel with endogenous NSE. These data suggest that cis-acting elements responsible for the spatial and temporal pattern of NSE gene expression are located within the proximal 1.8 kb of the 5' flanking sequence. To further investigate this region, we joined the 1.8-kb regulatory cassette to the cat reporter gene and generated a number of constructs in which the flanking sequence was progressively deleted from the 5' end. These constructs were tested by transient transfection into neuronal and nonneuronal cells, followed by an assay for CAT activity. We found that as little as 255 bp of 5' flanking sequence was able to confer cell type-specificity on the reporter gene. Further truncation to 120 bp of 5' sequence resulted in a sharp downregulation of reporter activity in PC12 cells but a significant rise in both Neuro-2A neuroblastoma cells and nonneuronal Ltk- cells, indicating that cis-acting elements controlling the regulation of NSE in Ltk-, Neuro-2A, and PC12 cells may lie within the 135 bp region covered by this deletion. This region contains an AP-2 site and an element similar in sequence and position to a motif identified in the proximal promoter region of the neuron-specific peripherin gene. Reduction to 95 bp of 5' sequence resulted in a slight downregulation of CAT activity in all cell lines tested, and further truncation to 65 bp of 5' sequence caused a universal reduction to background levels of CAT activity, concomitant with the disruption of the basal NSE promoter. Our results show that the 5' flanking region of the NSE gene is capable of conferring cell type-specificity on a heterologous gene in transfected cells and that elements responsible for this are located within the proximal 255 bp.

Animals↗