Figure 1.

Generation of mnx knockout and overexpression lines. A, The knockout mutant Δmnx was generated by insertion of a kanamycin resistance cassette (KmR) into the coding sequence of the mnx gene at the unique SmaI restriction site. The overexpression line Δmnx/OEX was generated by reintroducing mnx under the control of the strong psbAII promoter into the genetic background of Δmnx. Using homologous recombination, mnx was integrated into the psbAII locus. For selection, a gene encoding a spectinomycin resistance cassette (SpR) was included. B, The genotypes of the mutants were verified by PCR using gene-specific primers for amplification of mnx. Water was used as a negative control. WT, Wild type. C, The transcript abundance of mnx was analyzed by RT-qPCR. nd, Not detectable.