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. 1987 Jan;84(1):131–135. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.1.131

Expression and assembly of functional bacterial luciferase in plants

Csaba Koncz *,†, Olof Olsson *,‡, William H R Langridge §, Jeff Schell *,, Aladar A Szalay §,
PMCID: PMC304156  PMID: 16593793

Abstract

The luxA and luxB structural genes of Vibrio harveyi luciferase [alkanal,reduced FMN:oxygen oxidoreductase (1-hydroxylating, luminescing), EC 1.14.14.3] were introduced into a plant expression vector and transferred into tobacco and carrot cells by Agrobacterium-mediated or direct DNA transformation. Simultaneous expression of the luxA and luxB genes was monitored by protein immunoblot analysis. Luciferase-mediated light emission provided evidence for the assembly of the two protein subunits into a functional dimeric enzyme in plant protoplasts, in transformed calli, and in leaves of transformed plants. Bacterial luciferase may provide a useful marker-gene system for the quantitative assay of coordinate gene expression in transgenic plants.

Keywords: plant transformation, coordinate gene expression, luxAB genes

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Selected References

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