A genetic insulator to control transgene expression in plants - 0913
- *Abstract
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Overview
Transgenictechnology is commonly used in biotechnology. In eukaryotes, the temporal andspatial expression of transgenes is regulated by transcription factors throughtheir interaction with enhancer elements, though these lack the specificity forprecise temporal and spatial patterns of transgenic expression. The expression of a transgene may also be affected by the promoter of a selectable marker gene that is closely linked with the transgene and/or by chromosomal genes that flank the transgene, which is often referred to as the “position effect”. These position effects are often not desirable, especially when tissue-specific, precisely controlled, or optimal transgene expression is wanted.
Geneticinsulator elements can protect against positional effects so that an introducedtransgene can be expressed independent of its locations in the chromosome. Genetic insulators may also repress nonspecific interactions between enhancers and promoters. Thus, it could be possible to obtain precise gene expression by using an appropriate genetic insulator to shield the effects of neighboring gene promoters. UK researchers are developing the first insulators isolated from plants.
Invention
UK researchers are developing an isolated polypeptide sequence that has a genetic insulator activity in plants. Transfection of a plant cell with a vector carrying this polypeptide sequence generates a transgenic plant containing the genetic insulator polynucleotide. The genetic insulator protects the gene of interest from the position effect generally exerted by the promoters/enhancers of neighboring genes. The result is that the expression of a transgene is controlled only by its genetic machinery, not those of neighboring genes.
Applications
- production of stably transfected cell lines
- gene regulation studies
Advantages
- can isolate a transgenefrom positional effects
- can be placed upstream or downstream of the gene of interest
- more tightly control endogenous genes by inserting the insulator sequence upstream of the endogenous gene of interest
IP Status: U.S. Patent No. 7,605,300
- 国家/地区
- 美国
