Abstract
Cryptomeria japonica D. Don is one of the most important Japanese conifer species. If we can repress pollen production, we will be able to reduce risks of transgene escape from GM C. japonica into native gene pools. We attempt to generate male sterility C. japonica by introducing barnase gene driven by a male strobilus specific promoter from C. japonica.
The seven male strobilus specific genes were isolated using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method. We have isolated promoters of male flower specific genes by TAIL-PCR method. To confirm the tissue specific activity of the promoter regions, the promoter::GUS fusions were introduced into Arabidopsis and C. japonica. The 1009-C47::GUS showed tapetum-specific GUS activity in Arabidopsis and C. japonica. The 1009-C96::GUS lines showed GUS stain in tapetum and guard cell of Arabidopsis. We report that the transgenic Arabidopsis that introduced promoter::barnase construct shows male sterility.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported in part by AFFRC, MAFF, Japan
