THE PLANT CELL, Vol 3, Issue 3 309-315, Copyright © 1991 by American Society of Plant Biologists
Elicitor-Inducible and Constitutive in Vivo DNA Footprints Indicate Novel cis-Acting Elements in the Promoter of a Parsley Gene Encoding Pathogenesis-Related Protein 1
I. Meier, K. Hahlbrock and I. E. Somssich
Max-Planck-Institut fur Zuchtungsforschung, Abteilung Biochemie, Carl-von-Linne-Weg 10, D-5000 Koln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
The presence of three genes encoding pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR1)
in cultured parsley cells and the activation of all three genes by fungal
elicitor are demonstrated. In vivo dimethyl sulfate footprinting was used
to identify two putative sites of protein-DNA interaction in the promoter
of one PR1 gene, located around positions -240 and -130 relative to the
transcription start site. The TATA-distal footprint was elicitor dependent
and appeared within 30 minutes of elicitor treatment, concomitant with the
onset of PR1 transcription. The second footprint was observed irrespective
of whether elicitor was present or absent. The two footprinted regions
contain, in opposite orientation, nearly identical 11-base pair motifs that
are unrelated to any known cis-acting element in elicitor-activated or
pathogen-activated plant genes. The results demonstrate the usefulness of
in vivo footprinting for the identification of cis-acting elements within
promoters not accessible to other types of analysis.
