Characterisation and promoter analysis of the Arabidopsis gene encoding high-mobility-group protein HMG-I/Y

The single-copy gene encoding the Arabidopsis HMG-I/Y protein was isolated and characterised. The gene encodes a protein of 204 amino acid residues and contains a single intron of 73 bp. Primer extension analysis indicates that transcription starts 115 bp upstream of the translation start and the leader sequence contains a short open reading frame of 13 amino acid residues. The 5'-upstream region of 2117 bp and several 5' deletions were fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and transferred to tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Analysis of transgenic tobacco plants containing HMG-I/Y promoter regions of -2117, -1468 and -707 from the translation start detected GUS activity in all organs examined, including roots, stems, leaves and floral organs. Deletion from -707 to -185 resulted in a 20-30-fold reduction in GUS activity in roots and stems, indicating the presence of important quantitative regulatory elements in this region.