THE PLANT CELL, Vol 3, Issue 6 583-591, Copyright © 1991 by American Society of Plant Biologists
Developmental Analysis of Elongation Factor-1[alpha] Expression in Transgenic Tobacco
V. M. Ursin, J. M. Irvine, W. R. Hiatt and C. K. Shewmaker
Calgene Inc., 1920 Fifth Street, Davis, California 95616
The developmental regulation of the translational elongation factor
EF-1[alpha] has been analyzed in tobacco. A gene fusion was constructed
consisting of the 5[prime] and 3[prime] regions of the tomato genomic clone
LeEF-A from the EF-1[alpha] gene family and the [beta]-glucuronidase coding
region. Analysis of the transgenic plants containing this chimeric gene
demonstrated that the tomato LeEF-A flanking sequences were sufficient to
confer expression patterns similar to those of the endogenous tobacco
EF-1[alpha] gene. The patterns of [beta]-glucuronidase activity in this
system indicated that during plant growth and development EF-1[alpha] is
regulated with increased expression corresponding to regions of high
protein synthesis, including meristems, rapidly growing tissues, and
developing gametophytes. In addition, EF-1[alpha] expression responds
rapidly to changes in growth patterns induced by hormone treatment. Our
results are in agreement with studies in animals indicating that
EF-1[alpha] expression may be rate limiting for protein synthesis and
demonstrate that the analysis of EF-1[alpha] is of value for studying
interrelationships between protein synthesis and developmental control.
