Abstract
We encountered unexpected transgene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana sperm cells; transgenes encoding proteins with no specific intracellular localization (cytoplasmic proteins) were silenced transcriptionally or posttranscriptionally. The mRNA of cytoplasmic protein transgenes tagged with a fluorescent protein gene was significantly reduced, resulting in undetectable fluorescent protein signals in the sperm cell. Silencing of the cytoplasmic protein transgenes in the sperm cell did not affect the expression of either its endogenous homologous genes or cotransformed transgenes encoding a protein with targeted intracellular localization. This transgene silencing in the sperm cell persisted in mutants of the major gene silencing machinery including DNA methylation. The incomprehensible, yet real, transgene silencing phenotypes occurring in the sperm cell could mislead the interpretation of experimental results in plant reproduction, and this Commentary calls attention to that risk and highlights details of this novel cytoplasmic protein transgene silencing.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3926-3936 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Plant Cell |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.
Funding
Y.O. was supported by a research fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 18J02251). T.K. was supported by the National Science Foundation (IOS-1928836).
Funders | Funder number |
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National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | IOS-1928836 |
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science | 18J02251 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Plant Science