A Pin gene families encoding components of auxin efflux carriers in Brassica juncea

¹National Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
²Partner Group of Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) on "Plant Molecular Physiology and Signal Transduction", 300 Fenglin Road, Shanghai 200032, China

Based on the sequence information of Arabidopsis PIN1, two cDNAs encoding PIN homologues from Brassica juncea, Bjpin2 and Bjpin3, were isolated through cDNA library screening. Bjpin2 and Bjpin3 encoded proteins containing 640 and 635 amino acid residues, respectively, which shared 97.5% identities with each other and were highly homologous to Arabidopsis PIN1, PIN2 and other putative PIN proteins. BjPIN2 and BjPIN3 had similar structures as AtPIN proteins. Northern blot analysis indicated that Bjpin2 was expressed in stem, leaf and floral tissues, while Bjpin3 was expressed predominantly in stem and hypocotyls. Two promoter fragments of pin genes, Bjpin-X and Bjpin-Z, were isolated by `genome walking' technique using primers at 5'-end of pin cDNA. Promoter-gus fusion studies revealed the GUS activities driven by Bjpin-X were at internal side of xylem and petal; while those driven by Bjpin-Z were detected at leaf vein, epidermal cell and cortex of stem, vascular tissues and anther. Results of the pin genes with different expression patterns in B. juncea suggested the presence of a gene family.

Key words: Brassica juncea, polar auxin transport, auxin efflux carrier, promoter.