THE ACTIVITY OF ARABIDOSPIS DLL PROMOTER IN TRANSGENIC TOBACCO PLANTS UNDER WATER STRESS CONDITIONS

In this work we used the Cre/loxP recombination system to study the activity of the Arabidopsis DLL promoter under water stress treatment. For this, the T-DNA containing the Cre/loxP self-excision recombination cassette was introduced into tobacco genome via A. tumefaciens LBA 4404. The expression of the cre gene was regulated by the DLL promoter. On activity of the DLL the Cre recombinase was expected to remove Cre/loxP cassette. Transgenic nature of regenerated transgenic T-0 tobacco plantlets was proved by GUS and PCR analyses. The selected 10 transgenic T-0 plants were subjected to the water stress analyses under in vitro as well as under in vivo conditions. The osmotic stress experiments were performed with 10 % PEG and 100 mmol.l(-1) mannitol (individually). The activity of the DLL was evaluated after 24 hours. For drought stress experiments, the watering was withheld for 10 days. The activity of the DLL was monitored using PCR approach. Under given abiotic stress conditions, no activity of the DLL was observed. The DLL promoter remained stable. It points out the DLL as the promoter with precise control of the gene expression with wide usability in plant biotechnology.