Abstract
To study the regulated expression of genes involved in the disease resistance, we developed an in vivo monitoring system by the bioluminescence reporter gene and have shown that the system is applicable to the screening of chemicals capable of inducing defense responses in plants. Recently, BIK1 gene that shows a characteristic feature in expression pattern in response to fungal infection has been isolated. BIK1 gene is induced by necrotrophic pathogens but its expression is rather insensitive to treatment by chemical inducers of defense gene expression. Although its involvement in the crosstalk of defense-related signaling pathways has been suggested, regulated expression of the BIK1 gene is largely unknown. To investigate the promoter function of the BIK1 gene, we constructed transgenic Arabidopsis lines harboring BIK1 promoter-firefly luciferase fusion gene. Here we report some results from our investigation of the BIK1 promoter function after inoculation with several pathogens and after treatment with chemicals.
