35S Promoter Methylation in Kanamycin-Resistant Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe pinnata L.) Plants Expressing the Antimicrobial Peptide Cecropin P1 Transgene

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T. V. Shevchuk^*, N. S. Zakharchenko, S. V. Tarlachkov, O. V. Furs, O. V. Dyachenko, and Y. I. Buryanov

Branch of Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia; fax: +7 (4967) 330-527; E-mail: shevchuk@bibch.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received May 31, 2016

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Transgenic kalanchoe plants (Kalanchoe pinnata L.) expressing the antimicrobial peptide cecropin P1 gene (cecP1) under the control of the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus 35S RNA promoter and the selective neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene under the control of the nopaline synthase gene promoter were studied. The 35S promoter methylation and the cecropin P1 biosynthesis levels were compared in plants growing on media with and without kanamycin. The low level of active 35S promoter methylation further decreases upon cultivation on kanamycin-containing medium, while cecropin P1 synthesis increases.

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KEY WORDS: Kalanchoe pinnata, transgenic plants, antimicrobial peptide cecropin P1, DNA methylation, 35S cauliflower mosaic virus 35S RNA promoter, kanamycin, neomycin phosphotransferase II

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297916090054

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