Abstract
The introduction and expression of foreign genes in plants1–3 will advance our understanding of plant molecular biology and should allow the introduction of new agronomically valuable traits into crop plants. The source of potentially useful genes is large (any living organism may be a donor), but identification of these genes remains difficult. We present here an example of how a gene for herbicide tolerance, an agronomically important trait, can be found in a bacterium and introduced into plants. The herbicide glyphosate inhibits a metabolic step in the biosynthesis of aromatic compounds and the aroA gene encodes the inhibited enzyme in bacteria. Therefore, we introduced a mutant allele of this gene that encodes an enzyme less sensitive to glyphosate into tobacco plants. Expression of this gene enhanced tolerance to glyphosate in transformed plants.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Herrera-Estrella, L., Depicker, A., Van Montagu, M. & Schell, J. Nature 303, 209–213 (1983).
Fraley, R. T. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 4803–4807 (1983).
Bevan, M. W., Flavell, R. B. & Chilton, M. D. Nature 304, 184–187 (1983).
Gollub, E., Zackin, H. & Sprinson, D. B. J. biol. Chem. 242, 5323–5328 (1967).
Steinruecken, H. C. & Amrhein, N. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 94, 1207–1212 (1980).
Amrhein, N., Deus, B., Gehrke, P. & Steinruecken, H. C. Pl. Physiol. 66, 830–834 (1980).
Rogers, S. G., Brand, L. A., Holder, S. B., Sharps, E. S. & Brackin, M. J. Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 46, 37–43 (1983).
Amrhein, N., Johaenning, D., Schab, J. & Schulz, A. FEBS Lett. 157, 191–196 (1983).
Comai, L., Sen, L. & Stalker, D. Science 221, 370–371 (1983).
Stalker, D., Hiatt, W. & Comai, L. J. biol. Chem. 260, 4724–4728 (1985).
Nester, E. W., Gordon, M. P., Amasino, R. M. & Yanofsky, M. F. A. Rev. Plant. Physiol. 35, 387–413 (1984).
DeGreve, H. et al. J. molec. appl. Genet. 1, 499–511 (1983).
Salomon, F. et al. EMBO J. 3, 141–146 (1984).
Velten, J., Velten, R., Hain, R. & Schell, J. EMBO J. 3, 2723–2730 (1984).
Garfinkel, D. J. et al. Cell 27, 143–153 (1983).
Barker, R. F., Idler, K. B., Thomson, D. V. & Kemp, J. D. Pl. molec. Biol. 2, 335–350 (1983).
White, F. F. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 144, 710–720 (1980).
Comai, L., Schilling-Cordaro, C., Mergia, A. & Houck, M. C. Plasmid 10, 21–30 (1983).
Firmin, J. L. & Fenwick, R. G. Nature 276, 842–844 (1978).
Dellaporta, S. Pl. molec. Biol. 1, 19–20 (1983).
Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. & Sambrook, J. Molecular Cloning, a Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1982).
Pierandrei-Amaldi, P., Campioni, N., Beccari, E., Bozzoni, I. & Amaldi, F. Cell 30, 163–171 (1982).
Hiatt, W. R. et al. in Molecular Form and Function of the Plant Genome (eds Van Vloten-Doting, L., Groot, G. S. P. & Hall, T. C.) 479–488 (Plenum, New York, 1985).
Burnette, W. N. Analyt. Biochem. 112, 195–203 (1981).
Boocock, M. R. & Coggins, J. R. FEBS Lett. 154, 127–133 (1983).
Hoagland, R. E. & Duke, O. S. Biochemical Response Induced by Herbicides (Am. Chem. Soc., Washington DC, 1982).
Van der Broek, G. et al. Nature 313, 358–363 (1985).
Schreier, H. P., Seftor, E. A., Schell, J. & Bohnert, H. J. EMBO J. 4, 25–32 (1985).
Bickel, H., Palme, L. & Schultz, G. Phytochemistry 17, 119–124 (1978).
D'Amato, T. A., Ganson, R. J., Gaines, C. G. & Jensen, R. A. Planta 162, 104–108 (1984).
Chang, A. C. Y. & Cohen, S. N. J. Bact. 134, 1141–1156 (1978).
Rothstein, S. J., Jorgenson, R. A., Postle, K. & Reznikoff, W. S. Cell 19, 795–805 (1980).
Huffman, G. A., White, F. F., Gordon, M. P. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 157, 269–276 (1984).
Vieira, J. & Messing, J. Gene 19, 259–268 (1982).
Knauf, V. C. & Nester, E. W. Plasmid 8, 45–54 (1982).
Yanisch-Perron, C., Vieira, J. & Messing, J. Gene 33, 103–119 (1985).
Laemmli, V. K. Nature 227, 680–685 (1970).
Johnson, D. A., Gautsch, J. W., Sportsman, J. R. & Elder, J. H. Gene Analyt. Technol. 1, 38–42 (1983).
Spano, L. & Constantino, P. Z. Pflanzenphysiologie 106, 87–92 (1982).
Chilton, M. D. et al. Nature 295, 432–434 (1982).
Facciotti, D. & Pilet, P. E. Pl. Sci. Lett. 15, 1–7 (1979).
Garfinkel, D. J. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 144, 732–743 (1980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Comai, L., Facciotti, D., Hiatt, W. et al. Expression in plants of a mutant aroA gene from Salmonella typhimurium confers tolerance to glyphosate. Nature 317, 741–744 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/317741a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/317741a0
This article is cited by
-
Rapeseed Transformation with aroA Bacterial Gene Containing P101S Mutation Confers Glyphosate Resistance
Biochemical Genetics (2022)
-
Selectable Markers to Marker-Free Selection in Rice
Molecular Biotechnology (2022)
-
Hairy root culture technology: applications, constraints and prospect
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2021)
-
Genome-wide identification and comparative analysis of EPSPS (aroA) genes in different plant species
Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2016)
-
Transgenic rice expressing a codon-modified synthetic CP4-EPSPS confers tolerance to broad-spectrum herbicide, glyphosate
Plant Cell Reports (2015)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.