Abstract
Large DNA fragments of ~100kb can be introduced into plant genomes using the transformation-competent artificial chromosome vector TAC developed by Liu et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1999) 96: 6535-6540). We are currently working on transferring many Arabidopsis genes into tomato to elucidate the possibility of transferring new traits from the model plant. We selected Arabidopsis genomic TAC clones that contained disease resistance related genes for transformation of a dwarf tomato, Micro-Tom. In this study, we analyzed 33 transgenic tomato plants carrying, in total, 11 disease resistance-related genes. RT-PCR primers were designed at the intron junctions for detecting splicing in the transgene transcripts. All transcripts from these genes detected in transgenic tomato were spliced as the same manner as in Arabidopsis. Alternative splicing detected in Arabidopsis was also observed in the transgenic tomato. We are also analyzing expression of these transgenes under disease-stress conditions.
