High-lysine corn generated by endosperm-specific suppression of lysine catabolism using RNAi.
Plant Biotechnol J
; 5(5): 605-14, 2007 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17553105
Because of the limited lysine content in corn grain, synthetic lysine supplements are added to corn meal-based rations for animal feed. The development of biotechnology, combined with the understanding of plant lysine metabolism, provides an alternative solution for increasing corn lysine content through genetic engineering. Here, we report that by suppressing lysine catabolism, transgenic maize kernels accumulated a significant amount of lysine. This was achieved by RNA interference (RNAi) through the endosperm-specific expression of an inverted-repeat (IR) sequence targeting the maize bifunctional lysine degradation enzyme, lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase (ZLKR/SDH). Although plant-short interfering RNA (siRNA) were reported to lack tissue specificity due to systemic spreading, we confirmed that the suppression of ZLKR/SDH in developing transgenic kernels was restricted to endosperm tissue. Furthermore, results from our cloning and sequencing of siRNA suggested the absence of transitive RNAi. These results support the practical use of RNAi for plant genetic engineering to specifically target gene suppression in desired tissues without eliciting systemic spreading and the transitive nature of plant RNAi silencing.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Proteínas de Plantas
/
Zea mays
/
Interferência de RNA
/
Lisina
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Plant Biotechnol J
Assunto da revista:
BIOTECNOLOGIA
/
BOTANICA
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos