Functional analysis of the promoter region of a maize (Zea mays L.) H3 histone gene in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

A 1023 bp fragment and truncated derivatives of the maize (Zea mays L.) histone H3C4 gene promoter were fused to the ß-glucuronidase (GUS) gene and introduced via Agrobacterium tumefaciens into the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana. GUS activity was found in various meristems of transgenic plants as for other plant histone promoters, but unexplained activity also occurred at branching points of both stems and roots. Deletion of the upstream 558 bp of the promoter reduced its activity to an almost basal expression. Internal deletion of a downstream fragment containing plant histone-specific sequence motifs reduced the promoter activity in all tissues and abolished the expression in meristems. Thus, both the proximal and distal regions of the promoter appear necessary to achieve the final expression pattern in dicotyledonous plant tissues. In mesophyll protoplasts isolated from the transformed Arabidopsis plants, the full-length promoter showed both S phase-dependent and -independent activity, like other plant histone gene promoters. Neither of the 5′-truncated nor the internal-deleted promoters were able to direct S phase-dependent activity, thus revealing necessary cooperation between the proximal and distal parts of the promoter to achieve cell cycle-regulated expression. The involvement of the different regions of the promoter in the different types of expression is discussed.