Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of monocot and dicot plants using the NCR promoter derived from soybean chlorotic mottle virus

The NCR promoter (PNCR) from soybean chlorotic mottle virus (SoyCMV) was us ed to express the selectable marker, neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) ge ne, in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of both monocot (rice) and dic ot (tobacco) plants. A multi-cloning site for insertion of a gene of intere st into the binary vector pTN is located proximal to the right border regio n of T-DNA. When chimeric genes under the control of other strong promoters were located in a head-to-head orientation to the PNCR-nptII gene, kanamyc in-resistant tobacco shoots were generated more efficiently than when using the original pTN vectors. This suggests that the enhancer-like sequences i n the promoters adjacent to PNCR may promote expression of the PNCR-nptII g ene.