Abstract
Low-affinity sulfate transporter SULTR2;1 has been considered to function in sulfate translocation from roots to shoots. The mRNA level of SULTR2;1 is highly up-regulated responding to sulfate starvation (-S) in roots but decreased in shoots. In this study, we identified the -S-responsive region of SULTR2;1 and found that -S-responsive expression of SULTR2;1 in roots requires the 3' region. Deletion analysis using luciferase reporter gene revealed that -S-responsive expression of SULTR2;1 requires the regions from +361 to +371 and +450 to +459 which were located downstream of SULTR2;1 3'UTR. The 3' region was effective in combination with other promoters, e.g. 35S promoter. These results indicate that SULTR2;1 3' region induces gene expression by modulating a basal machinery of transcription. Tissue specificity of GFP accumulation with the combination of SULTR2;1 3' region and several promoters revealed that SULTR2;1 3' region induced gene expression in basal region of roots.
