Abstract
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important staple food and a model plant for cereals. The gene targeting (GT) by homologous recombination is a powerful tool for elucidating gene function in rice. To demonstrate GT is applicable to other gene than Waxy in rice, we are trying to modify the Adh genes for alcohol dehydrogenase. Both Adh1 and Adh2 genes on chromosome 11 encode about 40 kDa proteins, which are functional as homodimers or heterodimers. By homologous recombination, the Hmr positive marker connected with the transcriptional stop region of the En transposon is designed to be integrated into exon 1 of the Adh2 gene, upstream of the ATG initiation codon. PCR analysis of the calli obtained indicated that successful GT occurred at the Adh2 locus. Based on the results of Southern analysis, possible recombination events are discussed.
