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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Crop Improvement and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #214240
Title: The parA resolvase performs site-specific genomic excision in Arabidopsis

Author
item Thomson, James - Jim
item BLANVILLIAN, ROBERT - UC BERKELEY
item YAU, YUAN-YEU - UC BERKELEY
item Ow, David

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2006
Publication Date: 1/13/2007
Citation: Thomson, J.G., Blanvillian, R., Yau, Y., Ow, D.W. 2007. The parA resolvase performs site-specific genomic excision in Arabidopsis. Plant & Animal Genomes XIV Conference, San Diego, CA, January 13-17, 2007.

Interpretive Summary: Site-specific recombinases are enzymes that are capable of cutting and pasting DNA together. They do so with precision and without the gain or loss of genetic material. These types of enzymes are currently being used to remove unwanted antibiotic or herbicide genes used as selectable markers during genetic engineering. To stimulate development of this technology our lab has developed and tested a number of novel recombinases to better control genomic engineering in plants. We report that the novel parA recombinase precisely removes DNA from the Arabidopsis genome.

Technical Abstract: We have designed a site-specific excision detection system in Arabidopsis to study the in planta activity of the small serine recombinase ParA. Using a transient expression assay as well as stable transgenic plant lines, we show that the ParA recombinase is catalytically active and capable of performing site-specific excision of a chromosomally integrated target from the Arabidopsis genome. The ParA recombinase is a novel tool for genome manipulation in transgenic plants and may provide a new way to remove marker genes or other unneeded transgenic sequences. A novel Arabidopsis promoter derived from the OXS3 gene was used to express parA in transgenic plants. The OXS3 promoter is an alternative non-patented intragenic promoter element that provides constitutive expression in transgenic Arabidopsis.