Qh. Ma et al., SEED-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION OF THE ISOPENTENYL TRANSFERASE GENE (IPT) INTRANSGENIC TOBACCO, Australian journal of plant physiology, 25(1), 1998, pp. 53-59
The Agrobacterium tunefaciens gene encoding isopentenyl transferase (i
pt), a cytokinin biosynthetic gene, was fused to a promoter from a see
d-specific gene, vicilin, and introduced into tobacco cells. Intact fe
rtile plants were generated. The expression of the vicilin-ipt gene wa
s shown to be confined to seed and resulted in enhanced levels of cyto
kinins in the developing seeds and increased seed protein content, Usi
ng a simplified quantification method, a significant increase in the l
evels of endogenous cytokinins was recorded at 16-21 days after flower
ing, The growth of the transgenic plants and the development of the se
eds appeared to be normal.