Yukoh Hiei

Bio: Yukoh Hiei is an academic researcher from Japan Tobacco. The author has contributed to research in topics: Transformation (genetics) & Agrobacterium. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 62 publications receiving 8075 citations. Previous affiliations of Yukoh Hiei include DuPont.

Efficient transformation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) mediated by Agrobacterium and sequence analysis of the boundaries of the T-DNA.

Abstract: Summary A large number of morphologically normal, fertile, transgenic rice plants were obtained by co-cultivation of rice tissues with Agrobacterium tumefaciens The efficiency of transformation was similar to that obtained by the methods used routinely for transformation of dicotyledons with the bacterium Stable integration, expression and inheritance of transgenes were demonstrated by molecular and genetic analysis of transformants in the R0, R1 and R2 generations Sequence analysis revealed that the boundaries of the T-DNA in transgenic rice plants were essentially identical to those in transgenic dicotyledons Calli induced from scutella were very good starting materials A strain of A tumefaciens that carried a so-called ‘super-binary’ vector gave especially high frequencies of transformation of various cultivars of japonica rice that included Koshihikari, which normally shows poor responses in tissue culture

High efficiency transformation of maize (Zea mays L.) mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Abstract: Transformants of maize inbred A188 were efficiently produced from immature embryos cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens that carried "super-binary" vectors. Frequencies of transformation (independent transgenic plants/embryos) were between 5% and 30%. Almost all transformants were normal in morphology, and more than 70% were fertile. Stable integration, expression, and inheritance of the transgenes were confirmed by molecular and genetic analysis. Between one and three copies of the transgenes were integrated with little rearrangement, and the boundaries of T-DNA were similar to those in transgenic dicotyledons and rice. F1 hybrids between A188 and five other inbreds were transformed at low frequencies.

Vectors carrying two separate T-DNAs for co-transformation of higher plants mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and segregation of transformants free from selection markers

Abstract: Novel 'super-binary' vectors that carried two separate T-DNAs were constructed. One T-DNA contained a drug-resistance, selection-marker gene and the other contained a gene for beta-glucuronidase (GUS). A large number of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.) transformants were produced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 that carried the vectors. Frequency of co-transformation with the two T-DNAs was greater than 47% GUS-positive, drug-sensitive progeny were obtained from more than half of the co-transformants. Molecular analyses by Southern hybridization and polymerase chain reactions confirmed integration and segregation of the T-DNAs. Thus, the non-selectable T-DNA that was genetically separable from the selection marker was integrated into more than a quarter of the initial, drug-resistant transformants. Since various DNA fragments may be inserted into the non-selectable T-DNA by a simple procedure, these vectors will likely be very useful for the production of marker-free transformants of diverse plant species. Delivery of two T-DNAs to plants from mixtures of A. tumefaciens was also tested, but frequency of co-transformation was relatively low.

Method for transforming monocotyledons

Abstract: A method for transforming a monocotyledon by which the time required from transformation to regeneration of a plant is shorter so that the frequency of emergence of mutants is smaller than the conventional methods, which may be generally applied even to the plants for which the regeneration method from a protoplast to a plant has not been established, and with which the preparation of the material to be subjected to the method is easy. That is, the present invention provides a method for transforming a monocotyledon comprising transforming a cultured tissue during dedifferentiation process or a dedifferentiated cultured tissue of said monocotyledon with a bacterium belonging to genus Agrobacterium containing a desired gene.

Transformation of rice mediated by agrobacterium tumefaciens

Abstract: Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been routinely utilized in gene transfer to dicotyledonous plants, but monocotyledonous plants including important cereals were thought to be recalcitrant to this technology as they were outside the host range of crown gall. Various challenges to infect monocotyledons including rice with Agrobacterium had been made in many laboratories, but the results were not conclusive until recently. Efficient transformation protocols mediated by Agrobacterium were reported for rice in 1994 and 1996. A key point in the protocols was the fact that tissues consisting of actively dividing, embryonic cells, such as immature embryos and calli induced from scutella, were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium in the presence of acetosyringonc, which is a potent inducer of the virulence genes. It is now clear that Agrobacterium is capable of transferring DNA to monocotyledons if tissues containing ‘competent’ cells are infected. The studies of transformation of rice suggested that numerous factors including genotype of plants, types and ages of tissues inoculated, kind of vectors, strains of Agrobacterium,selection marker genes and selective agents, and various conditions of tissue culture, are of critical importance. Advantages of the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in rice, like on dicotyledons, include the transfer of pieces of DNA with defined ends with minimal rearrangements, the transfer of relatively large segments of DNA, the integration of small numbers of copies of genes into plant chromosomes, and high quality and fertility of transgenic plants. Delivery of foreign DNA to rice plants via A. tumefaciens is a routine technique in a growing number of laboratories. This technique will allow the genetic improvement of diverse varieties of rice, as well as studies of many aspects of the molecular biology of rice.

Shifting the limits in wheat research and breeding using a fully annotated reference genome

Abstract: An annotated reference sequence representing the hexaploid bread wheat genome in 21 pseudomolecules has been analyzed to identify the distribution and genomic context of coding and noncoding elements across the A, B, and D subgenomes. With an estimated coverage of 94% of the genome and containing 107,891 high-confidence gene models, this assembly enabled the discovery of tissue- and developmental stage-related coexpression networks by providing a transcriptome atlas representing major stages of wheat development. Dynamics of complex gene families involved in environmental adaptation and end-use quality were revealed at subgenome resolution and contextualized to known agronomic single-gene or quantitative trait loci. This community resource establishes the foundation for accelerating wheat research and application through improved understanding of wheat biology and genomics-assisted breeding.

pGreen: a versatile and flexible binary Ti vector for Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation.

Abstract: Binary Ti vectors are the plasmid vectors of choice in Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation protocols. The pGreen series of binary Ti vectors are configured for ease-of-use and to meet the demands of a wide range of transformation procedures for many plant species. This plasmid system allows any arrangement of selectable marker and reporter gene at the right and left T-DNA borders without compromising the choice of restriction sites for cloning, since the pGreen cloning sites are based on the well-known pBluescript general vector plasmids. Its size and copy number in Escherichia coli offers increased efficiencies in routine in vitro recombination procedures. pGreen can replicate in Agrobacterium only if another plasmid, pSoup, is co-resident in the same strain. pSoup provides replication functions in trans for pGreen. The removal of RepA and Mob functions has enabled the size of pGreen to be kept to a minimum. Versions of pGreen have been used to transform several plant species with the same efficiencies as other binary Ti vectors. Information on the pGreen plasmid system is supplemented by an Internet site (http://www.pgreen.ac.uk) through which comprehensive information, protocols, order forms and lists of different pGreen marker gene permutations can be found.

A silicon transporter in rice

Abstract: Silicon is beneficial to plant growth and helps plants to overcome abiotic and biotic stresses by preventing lodging (falling over) and increasing resistance to pests and diseases, as well as other stresses. Silicon is essential for high and sustainable production of rice, but the molecular mechanism responsible for the uptake of silicon is unknown. Here we describe the Low silicon rice 1 (Lsi1) gene, which controls silicon accumulation in rice, a typical silicon-accumulating plant. This gene belongs to the aquaporin family and is constitutively expressed in the roots. Lsi1 is localized on the plasma membrane of the distal side of both exodermis and endodermis cells, where casparian strips are located. Suppression of Lsi1 expression resulted in reduced silicon uptake. Furthermore, expression of Lsi1 in Xenopus oocytes showed transport activity for silicon only. The identification of a silicon transporter provides both an insight into the silicon uptake system in plants, and a new strategy for producing crops with high resistance to multiple stresses by genetic modification of the root's silicon uptake capacity.

Overexpressing a NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC) transcription factor enhances drought resistance and salt tolerance in rice

Abstract: Drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses to crop production. Here, we show that overexpression of stress responsive gene SNAC1 (STRESS-RESPONSIVE NAC 1) significantly enhances drought resistance in transgenic rice (22–34% higher seed setting than control) in the field under severe drought stress conditions at the reproductive stage while showing no phenotypic changes or yield penalty. The transgenic rice also shows significantly improved drought resistance and salt tolerance at the vegetative stage. Compared with WT, the transgenic rice are more sensitive to abscisic acid and lose water more slowly by closing more stomatal pores, yet display no significant difference in the rate of photosynthesis. SNAC1 is induced predominantly in guard cells by drought and encodes a NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC) transcription factor with transactivation activity. DNA chip analysis revealed that a large number of stress-related genes were up-regulated in the SNAC1-overexpressing rice plants. Our data suggest that SNAC1 holds promising utility in improving drought and salinity tolerance in rice.