Construction of a tapetum-specific and tetracycline-inducible system

A regulated gene expression system would offer the unique opportunity to study the gene physiological functions at different developmental stages. For realizing gene special expression in plant anther at given time, we constructed a new system that combined tetracycline- inducible elements with TA29 promoter, a tapetum-specific promoter of tobacco. The system was tested in transient GUS assay system by electroporation (gene gun) transformation of tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Winsconsin 38) anther. In the absence of tetracycline as the inducer, no GUS activity was detected. However, strong GUS expression was observed in tapetum. tissue upon tetracycline induction, and little GUS activity was found outside the tapetum. Our results suggested that gene expression can be restricted to a specific tissue at the given time under the control of this new system, and this system would be a very useful tool for both basic plant biology research and biotechnological applications.