A 200 BP REGION OF THE PEA ENOD12 PROMOTER IS SUFFICIENT FOR NODULE-SPECIFIC AND NOD FACTOR-INDUCED EXPRESSION

ENOD12 is one of the first nodulin genes expressed upon inoculation wi th Rhizobium and also purified Nod factors are able to induce ENOD12 e xpression. The ENOD12 gene family in pea (Pisum sativum) has two membe rs. A cDNA clone representing PsENOD12A [26] and a PsENOD12B genomic c lone [7] have been previously described. The isolation and characteriz ation of a PsENOD12A genomic clone is presented in this paper. By usin g a Vicia hirsuta-Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformation system it is shown that both genes have a similar expression pattern in transgenic V. hirsuta root nodules. Promoter analyses of both PsENOD12 promoters showed that the 200 bp immediately upstream of the transcription star t are sufficient to direct nodule-specific and Nod factor-induced gene expression.