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JXB Advance Access originally published online on July 4, 2008
Journal of Experimental Botany 2008 59(12):3247-3258; doi:10.1093/jxb/ern176
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© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Expression analysis of the BFN1 nuclease gene promoter during senescence, abscission, and programmed cell death-related processes

Sarit Farage-Barhom1,2, Shaul Burd1, Lilian Sonego1, Rafael Perl-Treves2 and Amnon Lers1,*

1Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
2Faculty of Life Science, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alers{at}volcani.agri.gov.il

Little is known about the biological role of nucleases induced during plant senescence and programmed cell death (PCD). Arabidopsis BFN1 has been identified as a senescence-associated type I nuclease, whose protein sequence shares high homology with some other senescence- or PCD-associated plant nucleases. To learn about BFN1 regulation, its expression pattern was analysed. A 2.3 kb portion of the 5' promoter sequence of BFN1 was cloned and its ability to activate the GUS reporter gene was examined. Transgenic Arabidopsis and tomato plants harbouring this chimeric construct were analysed for GUS expression. In both, the BFN1 promoter was able specifically to direct GUS expression in senescent leaves, differentiating xylem and the abscission zone of flowers. Thus, at least part of the regulation of BFN1 is mediated at the transcriptional level, and the regulatory elements are recognized in the two different plants. In tomato, specific expression was observed in the leaf and the fruit abscission zones. The BFN1 promoter was also active in other tissues, including developing anthers and seeds, and in floral organs after fertilization. PCD has been implicated in all of these processes, suggesting that in addition to senescence, BFN1 is involved in PCD associated with different development processes in Arabidopsis.

Key words: Abscission, BFN1, nuclease, programmed cell death, promoter, senescence

Received 8 April 2008; Revised 19 May 2008 Accepted 3 June 2008


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