Isolation and Characterization of E11 Gene Promoter from Tomato

A fragment of 2 000 bp upstream sequence of E11 clone was amplified from genomic DNA of the tomato cultivar Zhongshu5. Sequence analysis showed that the upstream contains the regulatory elements: TATA box (-29 - -22), CAAT box (-193- -189), wound, and drought response elements. Expression vectors of E11 promoter gus fusion were constructed with the promoters of 1 200 and 2 000 bp regions, respectively. Transgenic tomato plants were obtained through Agrobacteriummediated transformation. Histochemical analysis of GUS activity in various tissues showed that the two promoters were able to direct fruit-specific gene expression. The expression driven by promoter of 2 000 bp upstream fragment could increase GUS activity with the maturation of tomato fruits. The promoter of -1 200 bp fragment could direct gus gene expression in fruits with the inductions of drought and wounding. The regulatory region for fruit-specificity was probably located in the region of 1200 bp of 5'-flanking sequence and some positive regulatory elements or enhancers may exist in the region from -1200 to -2000 bp.