Functional analysis of a Lemna gibba rbcS promoter regulated by abscisic acid and sugar

Photosynthesis-associated nuclear genes (PhANGs) are able to respond to multiple environmental and developmental signals, including light, sugar and abscisic acid (ABA). PhANGs have been extensively studied at the level of transcriptional regulation, and several cis-acting elements important for light responsiveness have been identified in their promoter sequences. However, the regulatory elements involved in sugar and ABA regulation of PhANGs have not been completely characterized. A ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit gene (rbcS) promoter (SSU5C promoter) was isolated from duckweed (Lemna gibba). A series of SSU5C promoter 5' deletion fragments were fused to an intron-gus gene, and transgenic tobacco suspension cell lines were generated. Assay of tobacco suspension cell line harbouring the complete promoter in the fusion construct indicated that SSU5C promoter was negatively regulated by sugar and ABA under the condition of regular photoperiod. 5' deletion analysis of SSU5C promoter in transgenic tobacco suspension cell lines confirmed that a region between positions -310 and -152 included the ABA-response region, and that sugar-response cis-acting elements might be located in the region between -152 and -117. Taken together, our results confirmed that the cis-regulatory region responsible for repression by ABA and sugar in the SSU5C promoter was located between -310 and -117.