Expression of an ethylene-forming enzyme from Pseudomonas syringae under the control of alcohol dehydrogenase gene promoter in tobacco roots

Several lines of transgenic tobacco that expressed an ethylene-forming enzyme from Pseudomonas syringae fused with beta -glucuronidase as a histochemical marker under the control of tobacco alcohol dehydrogenase gene (NtADH) promoter were constructed. The NtADH promoter was previously shown to be active in late growth stage when expressed in BY2 cultured tobacco cells (Nicotiana tabacum). Ethylene production and expression of the marker gene in transgenic tobacco took place only in roots, and the root-limited expression was explicable by induction of NtADH promoter under anaerobic condition.