Cotton Promoters

Texas Tech University System Office of Technology Commercialization
posted on 01/16/2012

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Gossypium Hirsutum Tissue-Specific Promoters and their Use

D-0281, Dr. Randy Allen

Genetic modification of cotton for agronomic traits requires the use of promoters that cause the expression of attached genes in specific plant tissues or at certain developmental times.  This patented technology relates to an isolated promoter-effective DNA molecule of Gossypium which is operable in embryonic seed tissues and an isolated promoter-effective DNA molecule of Gossypium which is operable in chlorophyllous tissues.   Use of the promoter-effective DNA molecules and methods of expressing a heterologous mRNA molecule or protein or polypepetide in chlorophyllous tissue of plants and embryonic seed tissues are also disclosed. 

Competitive Advantages

Efficient genetic modification of cotton requires the use of regulatory sequences, known as promoters that cause the expression of attached genes in specific plant tissues or at certain developmental times.   The pattern of expression must be analyzed before they can be used to generate commercial transgenic cotton plants.

Upstream regulatory sequences of two cotton genes were fused with a GUS reporter gene in different tissues and developmental stages.  Expression of one promoter was detected only in maturing seeds while expression by the other promoter was seen predominately in leaves.  These results indicate that these two tissue-specific–promoters can be used to target the expression of important genes in transgenic cotton plants.   

Background Information/ Patents and/ or Publications

U.S. Patent has been issued as 7,577,264 on 07/07/2009

Ping Song, Jeanie Heinen, Teresa Burns, and Randy Allen (2000). Expression of Two Tissue-Specific Promoters in Transgenic Cotton Plants,  Journal of Cotton Science 4:217-223.