Abstract
To generate a transgenic rice plant suitable for efficient bioethanol production by the use of a cellulase gene, we examined effects of overexpression of the cellulase gene on rice development. A rice cellulase cDNA driven by the maize ubiquitin promoter was introduced into the rice genome. Whereas no reduction of transformation frequency was observed, regenerated transgenic plants showed various physiological and morphological abnormalities. These results suggest that constitutive overexpression of cellulase can be used for improvement of rice plants, but induced expression of cellulase will be necessary to avoid unsuitable effects on rice development.
