Tools for rice transformation: A flexible series of vectors harbouring phytohormone genes and specific promoters

A series of vectors that incorporate senescence - (Arabidopsis SAG12) or endosperm-specific (O. sativa SBEI, Gt1 and Gt3) promoters controlling the expression of Agrobacterium ipt or iaaM and iaaH genes have been created for manipulation of plant hormone levels. The vectors are suitable for direct gene delivery or they may be incorporated into pBECKS2000 binary replicons by a Cre/loxP site-specific recombination and converted to tools for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with options for co-transfer of target and marker genes as a single or two independent T-DNA units. Each vector has an analogue, in which the bacterial hormone biosynthesis gene is replaced by the gusA reporter gene, thus allowing verification of the promoter's spatial and temporal expression pattern in heterologous plant systems. Additional constructs with the isolated promoters or the promotorless ipt gene extend the possible applications of the series. The efficacy of the vectors was confirmed in stably transformed rice plants.