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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #177876
Title: GLADIOLUS

Author
item Kamo, Kathryn
item JOUNG, YOUNG HEE - CHONNAM NAT'L UNIV, KOREA

Submitted to: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2007
Publication Date: 10/5/2007
Citation: Kamo, K.K. and Joung, Y.H. 2007. Gladiolus. Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry. 61:289-298.

Interpretive Summary: Gladiolus is a floral bulb used as both a cutflower and planted in the garden. Viruses are a major problem for bulb crops because the plants are propagated each year by bulbs that harbor virus. Genetic engineering for virus resistance could be important for bulb crops such as Gladiolus as there are no virus-resistant cultivars available for breeding. The development of Gladiolus plants with antiviral genes for bean yellow mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus are described. Data on the control of gene expression using various promoters isolated from Gladiolus as well as other plant species is provided.

Technical Abstract: The activity of nine promoters was characterized in Gladiolus plants using the uidA gene under control of either the CaMV 35S, duplicated CaMV 35S, rice Act1, potato Ubi3, potato Ubi7, Arabidopsis UBQ3, rolD, mas2, or Arabidopsis translation elongation factor 1 promoters. Young leaves of plants with all promoters tested showed strong gus activity, but only the rolD, UBQ3, and CaMV 35S plants showed strong gus expression throughout the length of the older leaves. Transgenic plants with the bar-uidA fusion gene under control of either the CaMV 35S, rolD, mas2, and UBQ3 promoters were selected for long-term gene expression following three successive growing seasons. All 23 plant lines expressed gus following three successive growing seasons. Three ubiquitin promoters have been isolated from Gladiolus and transient transformation shows three-fold higher levels of gus activity with one of the Gladiolus promoters expressed in Gladiolus than the CaMV 35S promoter. Transgenic Gladiolus plants transformed with either the bean yellow mosaic virus coat protein gene in sense or antisense orientations were developed. These plants showed short-term, but not long-term, resistance to the virus. Transgenic Gladiolus plants transformed with the cucumber mosaic virus coat protein or replicase genes show short-term resistance to cucumber mosaic virus.