Abstract
Temporal induction of gene expression is an important technique to examine cell lineage, gene function and intercellular communication in vivo. In many species, several gene induction systems were reported already, such as steroid hormone, ethanol, and heat shock. Recently, we have developed a new method of gene induction in a single cell of living organisms using an infrared laser-evoked gene operator (IR-LEGO) system. We have chose heat shock system for temporal induction, because almost all species such as animals and plants have the system. And we have employed infrared laser for heating cell, since the light can heat water molecules effectively and does not induce photochemical reaction which produces radicals. We reported the application of IR-LEGO to some species including Arabidopsis. In transgenic plant line for HSP 18.2 promoter : GUS, we successfully induced gene expression in a single cell of a seedling. Furthermore, we have succeeded constitutive gene expression in single-cell using cre/loxP recombination system. IR-LEGO has the potential to be a useful tool in extensive research fields for cell marking or targeted gene expression in the plant.
