Sulfonamide resistance genes and their use

Abstract: Plant cells are transformed by: (i) transforming a plant cell whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide or a salt thereof with a chimaeric gene comprising (a) a plant promoter, (b) a sulfonamide resistance gene having a sequence encoding a transit peptide fused to the 5′-end of the resistance gene and (c) a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence; (ii) selecting a transformed plant cell whose growth is resistant to inhibition by a sulfonamide or salt thereof; (iii) optionally, regenerating from the transformed plant cell a genetically transformed plant which exhibit the said resistance; (iv) optionally, obtaining seed from the regenerated plant; and (v) optionally, propagating plants from the seed. The growth of weeds can be controlled at a locus where a transgenic plant obtained as above is being cultivated by applying to the locus an effective amount of a herbicide, such as asulam, which acts by inhibiting dihydropteroate synthase. The sulfonamide resistance gene can be also used as a selectable marker. The sequence of a Sulfonamide resistance gene is presented.

Description: This invention relates to sulfonamide resistance genes. Sulfonamides are anti-bacterial compounds which act as inhibitors of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS), an enzyme of the folic acid synthesis pathway. Resistance to sulfonamides is conferred on bacteria by various R plasmids in Enterobacteriaceae and is found in transposons such as Tn21 (De La Cruz and Grinsted. J. Bact. 151 , 1982, 222-228) and Tn2603 (Yamamoto et al , Mol. Gen. Genet. 181 , 1981, 464-469). A sulfonamide resistance gene ( sul ) codes for a modified DHPS which is insensitive to inhibition by sulfonamides. According to the present invention, there is provided a method of transforming a cell, which method comprises (i) transforming a plant cell whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide or a salt thereof which acts by inhibition of dihydropterate synthase (DHPS) with a chimaeric gene comprising (a) a plant promoter, (b) a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and (c) a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence; (ii) selecting a transformed plant cell whose growth is resistant to inhibition by a said sulfonamide or salt thereof; (iii) optionally, regenerating from the transformed plant cell a genetically transformed plant which exhibits the said resistance; (iv) optionally, obtaining seed from the regenerated plant; and (v) optionally, propagating plants from the seed. Transformed cells can be selected whose growth is resistant to a predetermined concentration of a sulfonamide, such as asulam, or a salt thereof. Plants which are resistant to asulam and its salts can be regenerated from transformed cells. Asulam is methyl (4-aminobenzene-sulphonyl)-carbamate. That resistance of cells or regenerants is due to the integration and expression of the sul gene may be verified by assaying for the presence of sulfonamide-insensitive DHPS. A DNA fragment suitable for use in the method of the invention comprises a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene. The invention also provides: a chimaeric gene comprising (a) a plant promoter, (b) a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and (c) a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence; a vector which comprises a said chimaeric gene such that the gene is capable of being expressed in a plant cell transformed with the vector; plant cells which have been transformed with the chimaeric gene; a transgenic plant which contains in its cells the chimaeric gene such that the plant exhibits resistance to a herbicide which acts by inhibiting DHPS; seed obtained from such a transgenic plant; and a method of controlling the growth of weeds at a locus, which method comprises applying an effective amount of a herbicide which acts by inhibiting DHPS to a locus where a transgenic plant of the invention is being cultivated. The invention can thus be used to kill selectively weeds. The herbicide is preferably asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof. However, a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene can also be used as a selectable marker in plant cells and plants, for example on the basis of the resistance it confers to sulfadiazine, asulam and their salts. A gene encoding another trait of interest can be linked, for example fused, to a sulfonamide resistance gene and introduced into cells. The cells are then grown on a medium containing a sulfonamide or one of its salts. Cells which survive can be assumed to have been transformed not only with the sulfonamide resistance gene but with the other gene as well. Accordingly, the present invention provides a DNA fragment comprising a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and, linked thereto, a gene encoding a second trait such that, when the fragment is used to transform a cell, the expression of sulfonamide resistance by the cell can be utilised as an indicator that the cell has been transformed by both the sulfonamide resistance gene and the gene coding for the second trait. The invention additionally provides a method of transforming a cell, which method comprises: (i) co-introducing a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and a gene encoding a second trait into a cell whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide or a salt thereof which acts by inhibition of DHPS, such that the said sulfonamide resistance gene acts as a marker gene for the said gene encoding a second trait; and (ii) selecting a transformed cell whose growth is resistant to inhibition by a said sulfonamide or salt thereof. Such a selected cell can then be screened for the presence of the second gene. A preferred sulfonamide resistance gene encodes a mutated DHPS of the sequence: or the said sequence modified by one or more amino acid insertions and/or deletions provided that resistance to a said sulfonamide is conferred on a cell when the said gene is expressed therein. A more preferred gene has the sequence: or the said sequence modified by one or more codon insertions and/or deletions provided that resistance to a said sulfonamide is conferred on a cell when the said gene is expressed therein. A modified gene sequence may be obtained by introducing corresponding changes into the DNA sequence encoding the unmodified amino acid sequence of the sul gene of the invention. This may be achieved by any appropriate technique, including restriction of the DNA sequence with an endonuclease, insertion of linkers, use of an exonuclease and/or a polymerase and site-directed mutagenesis. A shorter DNA sequence therefore may be obtained by removing nucleotides from the 5'-terminus or the 3'-terminus of the DNA sequence encoding the unmodified amino acid sequence, for example using an exonuclease such as Bal 31. Whether a modified DNA sequence encodes a modified protein capable of conferring resistance to asulam may be readily ascertained. The modified DNA sequence can be cloned into an appropriate plasmid and a host cell transformed and tested for sulfonamide resistance, for example resistance to asulam or sulfadiazine. Where the sequence of the mutated DHPS encoded by the sul gene is modified, typically there is a degree of homology of at least 70% between the modified and unmodified sequences. For example, the degree of homology may be 85% or more or 90% or more. In any event resistance to a sulphonamide which acts by inhibition of DHPS, such as asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof, must be conferred on a cell when a gene encoding a modified sequence is expressed in the cell. For the purposes of amplification, manipulation and transformation, a sulfonamide resistance gene is typically part of a larger DNA fragment. Such larger fragments may be up to 2.0 kb, for example up to 1.25 kb. Such a fragment is typically provided with restriction sites are both ends to facilitate manipulation. It preferably incorporates transcriptional regulatory sequences and/or, if not present at the 3'-end of the coding sequence of the gene, a stop codon for the sulfonamide gene. A fragment may therefore also incorporate a promoter, Shine-Dalgarno sequence and terminator sequence which are capable of enabling the sul gene to be expressed in plant cells or in whichever other type of cells are to be transformed by the gene. The fragment may be a hybrid fragment in which the sul gene promoter has been replaced by another promoter. The promoter may be a plant promoter, for example the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promoter or a nopaline synthase or octopine synthase promoter. Where manipulations in bacteria are undertaken, a bacterial promoter such as the lac promoter may be present. In one aspect of the invention, plant cells are transformed with a chimaeric sul gene comprising (a) a plant promoter operably linked to (b) a sul gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the said sul gene, and (c) a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence. Plant cells can be transformed with the chimaeric gene directly, typically by way of a DNA fragment comprising the chimaeric gene. Alternatively, there may be used a vector incorporating the chimaeric gene. The chimaeric gene includes transcriptional control sequences, for example as above, and translational initation and/or termination sequences. A vector typically contains too a region which enables the chimaeric gene to be transferred to and stably integrated in the plant cell genome. Any sul gene may be employed, although the gene is typically a bacterial gene. The sul gene may be a sul I or sul II gene. A sul gene according to the invention may be employed, although optionally there may base changes which do or do not result in amino acid substitutions in the expressed product. The sul gene is provided with a transit peptide sequence at its 5'-end. The encoded transit peptide is able to target the modified DHPS encoded by the sul gene into the chloroplast stroma. The chimaeric gene comprising a sul gene having a sequence encoding a transit peptide fused to the 5'-end of the resistance gene is typically prepared by ligating the transit peptide sequence to the 5'-end of the resistance gene. The transit peptide sequence may be the transit peptide for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO). The pea RUBISCO transit peptide may be employed. The sul coding sequence is fused to a transit peptide coding sequence in such a way that cleavage between the transit peptide and the modified DHPS encoded by the sul gene releases the mature modified DHPS into the chloroplast stroma. In other words, the sul gene is not fused to codons encoding the N-terminal amino acid residues of the mature protein which is normally targetted to the chloroplast stroma by the transit peptide. This is in contrast to the targetting efficiency of a fusion between the RUBISCO transit peptide and 5-enolpyruval shikimate phosphate (EPSP). Such a fusion protein is not targetted to the chloroplast stroma when the N-terminal sequence of the mature RUBISCO protein is not present (Comai et al , J. Biol. Chem. 263 , 15104-15109, 1988). Transformed plant cells can be selected by growth in a medium containing a sulfonamide or a salt thereof, such as sulfadiazine, asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof. Plant tissue can therefore be obtained comprising a plant cell which incorporates a sul gene in the plant cell genome, the gene being expressible in the plant cell. Plants can then be regenerated which include the sul gene in the plant cell genome such that the gene can be expressed. The regenerated plants can be reproduced by conventional means and, for example, seed obtained. A preferred way of transforming a plant cell is to use Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing a vector comprising a chimaeric sul gene as above. A hybrid plasmid vector may therefore be employed which comprises: (a) the chimaeric gene under the control of regulatory elements capable of enabling the gene to be expressed when integrated in the genome of a plant cell; (b) at least one DNA sequence which delineates the DNA to be integrated into the plant genome; and (c) a DNA sequence which enables this DNA to be transferred to the plant genome. Typically the DNA to be integrated into the plant cell genome is delineated by the T-DNA border sequences of a Ti-plasmid. If only one border sequence is present, it must be the right border sequence. The DNA sequence which enables the DNA to be transferred to the plant cell genome is generally the virulence ( vir ) region of a Ti-plasmid. The sul gene and its transcriptional and translational control elements can therefore be provided between the T-DNA borders of a Ti-plasmid. The plasmid may be a disarmed Ti-plasmid from which the genes for tumorigenicity have been deleted. The sul gene and its transcriptional and control elements can, however, be provided between T-DNA borders in a binary vector in trans with a Ti-plasmid with a vir region. Such a binary vector therefore comprises: (a) the chimaeric gene under the control of regulatory elements capable of enabling the gene to be expressed when integrated in the genome of a plant cell; and (b) at least one DNA sequence which delineates the DNA to be integrated into the plant genome. Agrobacterium tumefaciens , therefore, containing a hybrid plasmid vector or a binary vector in trans with a Ti-plasmid possessing a vir region can be used to transform plant cells. Tissue explants such as stems or leaf discs may be inoculated with the bacterium. Alternatively, the bacterium may be co-cultured with regenerating plant protoplasts. Plant protoplasts may also be transformed by direct introduction of DNA fragments which encode the mutated DHPS and in which the appropriate transcriptional and translational control elements are present or of a vector incorporating such a fragment. Direct introduction may be achieved using electroporation, polyethylene glycol, microinjection or particle bombardment. Plant cells from monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous plants can be transformed according to the present invention. Monocotyledonous species include barley, wheat, maize and rice. Dicotyledonous species include tobacco, tomato, sunflower, petunia, cotton, sugarbeet, potato, lettuce, melon, soybean, canola (rapeseed) and poplars. Tissue cultures of transformed plant cells are propagated to regenerate differentiated transformed whole plants. The transformed plant cells may be cultured on a suitable medium, preferably a selectable growth medium. Plants may be regenerated from the resulting callus. Transgenic plants are thereby obtained whose cells incorporate a sul gene in their genome, the sul gene being expressible in the cells. Seed from the regenerated plants can be collected for future use. The growth of weeds can be controlled by the use of a herbicide which acts by inhibiting dihydropteroate synthase, such as asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof, at a locus where plants according to the invention are under cultivation. As these plants are resistant to the herbicide due to expression of a mutated DHPS, the herbicide or a mixture of such herbicides can be applied without fear of damaging the plants. The herbicide may be applied pre-and/or post-emergence of the weeds and/or the plants. Suitable agriculturally acceptable salts include the alkali metal (particularly sodium and potassium), ammonium, amine (particularly diethanolamine, triethanolamine, octylamine, morpholine and dioctylmethylamine) and alkaline earth metal (particularly calcium and magnesium) salts. Herbicides which act by inhibiting dihydropteroate synthase, such as asulam and its salts, are active against monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds. They exhibit a low toxicity to mammals, birds, fish and wild life in general, and have a short soil persistence. They may be used, for example at rates of application of from 1.0 to 4.0 kg asulam equivalent/hectare, by post-emergence application to control the growth of annual and perennial grass weeds such as: Agropyron repens , Agrostis gigantea , Agrostis stolonifera , Alopecurus myosuroides , Avena fatua , Brachiaria eruciformis , Bromus tectorum , Cenchrus pauciflorus , Cynodon dactylon , Digitaria sanguinalis , Digitaria scalarum , Digitaria spp , Echinochloa colonum , Echinochloa crus-galli , Eleusine indica (=africana) , Eragrostis sp , Hordeum murinum , Holcus lanatus , Imperata cylindrica , Leptochloa filiformis , Panicum fasciculatum , Panicum purpurascens , Paspalum dilatatum , Poa annua , Poa trivialis , Rottboellia exaltata , Setaria spp and Sorghum halepense ; and annual and perennial broad-leafed weeds such as: Ambrosia sp , Anthemis sp , Artemisia sp , Bellis perennis , Cirsium arvense , Erigeron sp , Galinsoga parviflora , Matricaria spp , Senecio jacobaea , Sonchus oleraceus , Tussilago farfara , Capsella bursa-pastoris , Erysimum cheiranthoides , Raphanus raphanistrum , Sinapis arvensis , Polygonum aviculare , Polygonom convolvulus , Polygonum persicaria , Rumex crispus , Rumex obtusifolius , Equisetum arvensis and Pteridium aquilinum . The herbicide, in particular asulam and its agriculturally acceptable salts, are normally applied as spray fluids. Such spray fluids may, if desired, contain from 0.1% to 1% w/v of surfactant. Suitable surfactants may be of the ionic or non-ionic types, for example sulphoricinoleates, quaternary ammonium derivatives, products based on condensates of ethylene oxide with nonyl-or octyl-phenols, or carboxylic acid esters of anhydro-sorbitols which have been rendered soluble by etherification of the free hydroxy groups by condensation with ethylene oxide, alkali and alkaline earth metal salts of sulphuric acid esters and sulphonic acids such as dinonyl- and di-octyl-sodium sulpho-succinates and alkali and alkaline earth metal salts of high molecular weight sulphonic acid derivatives, e.g. sodium and calcium lignosulphates. Such spray fluids may be obtained from concentrates comprising asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof. Compositions in the form of concentrates which are to be diluted, e.g. with water or oil, before use as herbicides may, for example, contain from 0.05% to 10% of surfactant, e.g. from 0.05% to 10% w/w of surfactant in the case of solid concentrates and from 0.05% to 10% w/v of surfactant in the case of liquid concentrates. Herbicidal compositions containing the herbicide may also contain diluents or carriers and/or, if desired, conventional adjuvants such as adhesives, colouring agents and corrosion inhibitors. These adjuvants may also serve as carriers or diluents. Examples of suitable solid diluents or carriers are water-soluble alkali metal (e.g. sodium or potassium) chlorides (e.g. sodium chloride), carbonates, bicarbonates and sulphates, and urea. The solid compositions, which may take the form of water soluble powders or granules, are preferably prepared by grinding the active ingredient with solid diluents. Granular formulations may be prepared by granulating compositions in powder form obtained as described above. Liquid compositions may take the form of aqueous solutions or suspensions in oil which may incorporate surfactants. Suitable liquid diluents for incorporation in the liquid compositions include water and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Surfactants, which may be present in the liquid compositions, may be of the types described above and may, when liquid, also serve as diluents or carriers. Liquid compositions in the form of concentrates may be diluted with water or an oil. e.g. kerosene, to give compositions ready for use. A sul gene can also be used as a selectable marker for cell transformations on the basis that cells transformed with the gene are resistant to a sulfonamide such as sulfadiazine, asulam or one of its salts. This applies not only to plant cell transformations but also to transformations of other cells, for example bacteria. A sul gene can be co-introduced with a gene encoding a second trait into cells. The cells are screened for resistance to a sulfonamide or salt thereof. Cells resistant to the sulfonamide or sulfonamide salt are screened for the gene coding for the second trait. This second trait may be another agriculturally desirable property such as resistance to another herbicide. The second trait may be a trait for which it is difficult to assay. In the context of plants, the sul gene may therefore be linked to a gene coding for a storage protein such as phaseolin; a lectin; a resistance factor against a disease, an insect or another herbicide; or a factor providing tolerance to environmental stress. Any sul gene may be employed, although the gene is typically a bacterial gene. The gene may be a sul I or sul II gene. A sul gene according to the invention may be provided, although optionally there may base changes which do or do not result in amino acid substitutions in the expressed product. A chimaeric gene as described above is used when the sul gene is being used as a selectable marker for plant cell transformations. For plant cells, a chimaeric sul gene is provided between T-DNA borders. The gene encoding the second trait of interest is also provided between T-DNA borders. If the two genes are provided between the same T-DNA borders, preferably the chimaeric sul gene is closer to the left border sequence. The gene encoding the second trait of interest is also in the form of a chimaeric gene comprising a plant promoter for the coding sequence and a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence. A gene encoding a second trait of interest can, therefore, be introduced with a sul gene into cells whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide such as sulfadiazine, asulam or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof. A single DNA fragment containing both genes or two DNA fragments each containing a different one of the genes may be employed. The cells can then be grown in a medium containing the sulfonamide or salt thereof. Cells which survive can be assumed to have been transformed not only with the sul gene but also with the gene encoding the second trait. The genes can be introduced into the cells to be transformed directly or by any appropriate vector, for example a plasmid, phage (for bacteria) or virus. In the present invention, resistance or sensitivity of cells to a sulfonamide such as sulfadiazine, asulam or one of its salts is assessed by the ability of the cell to grow, to grow less well or not to grow in the presence of a predetermined concentration of the sulfonamide or salt thereof. This concentration may be selected depending upon circumstances. It may be 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 or 500 µg, calculated as the sulfonamide per ml of the medium in which the cells are present. That resistance of cells or regenerants is due to the integration and expression of the sul gene may be verified by assaying for the presence of sulfonamide-insensitive DHPS. The following Example illustrates the invention. A Reference Example is also provided. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows the sub-cloning of fragments into pUC vectors. Thick lines represent the sequences originating from plasmid R46, thin lines show the vectors. Small arrows indicate the direction of transcription initiated by the lac promoter. Vectors (pBR322, pUC12, pUC19) were treated with alkaline phosphatase during their digestion with restriction enzymes. T₄ DNA ligase was used for ligating a vector and insert or for circularising deleted plasmids. mcs represents multiple cloning sites. Figure 2 shows the growth of E. coli strain JM101 harbouring various plasmids on minimal medium containing asulam at 500 µg/ml. Bacteria with no plasmid, dots; pUC12 sul , closed triangles; pUC19 sul , open triangles; and pBR sul Δ3, closed circles. Figure 3 shows the strategy for sequencing the fragment from pBR sul Δ3 containing the sul gene. The arrows indicate the direction of sequencing. The upper arrow shows the position of the coding sequence. Not all the AluI, AvaII, DdeI sites are indicated. Figure 4 shows the nucleotide sequence of the 1.8 kb fragment of plasmid R46 present in pBR sul Δ3. The first start codon of the open reading frame (ORF) and the stop codon are boxed. The putative ribosome-binding-site is in an open box. The predicted amino-acid sequence of the mutated DHPS encoded by the sul gene is shown under the nucleotide sequence. Figure 5 shows the cloning of the sul gene in frame with the lac promoter into pUC19, giving pJIT92. At each step, T₄ DNA ligase was used to ligate the fragments of DNA. Vectors were treated with alkaline phosphatase during their digestion with restriction enzymes. The downstream BsmI site in the sul gene includes the stop codon which is eliminated by the T₄ DNA polymerase treatment but restored when the BsmI fragment is inserted into a filled-in HindIII site. The nucleotide sequence in the vicinity of the start and stop codons of the sul gene in pJIT92 was checked by sequencing. The sequences indicate the translation frames in pJIT92 and pJIT92ΔNc. The four extra-nucleotides inducing the frame shift in pJIT92ΔNc are underlined. Figure 6 shows the growth of E. coli strain JM101 harbouring no plasmid, dots; pJIT92, closed squares; and pJIT92ΔNc, open squares; on minimal medium containing asulam at 500 µg/ml. Figure 7 shows the organization of pJIT119. A. 35S, CaMV 35S promoter sequence; TP, rbc S transit peptide sequence; t., CaMV sequence containing transcription terminator and polyadenylation sequence. B. Upper lines: nucleotide and amino acid sequences of rbcS (Anderson and Smith, Biochem J. 240 , 709-715, 1986). Arrow indicates the point of cleavage between the transit peptide and the mature protein. Bottom lines: nucloetide and amino acid sequences at the junction between the rbcS transit peptide sequence and the sul coding sequence in pJIT119. REFERENCE EXAMPLE: Isolating and examining the sul gene (a) Cloning of a fragment of plasmid R46 carrying the sul gene A 1.25 kb HindIII-Sst1 fragment from within the 2.8 kb EcoR1-Sal1 fragment of plasmid R46 (Brown and Willetts, Plasmid, 5 , 188-201, 1981) was cloned into pUC vectors (Yanish-Peron et al ., Gene 33 , 103-119, 1985) as shown in Figure 1. In brief, the 1.25 kb HindIII-SstI fragment was electroeluted from an agarose gel after cutting with HindIII and SstI. This fragment was ligated to pUC12 or pUC19 cut with the same enzymes to create pUC12 sul and pUC19 sul respectively. The ability of pUC12 sul and pUC19 sul to confer resistance to asulam was assessed by growing E. coli JM101 harbouring either plasmid on minimal medium containing 500 µg of asulam per ml. The results are shown in Figure 2. These show that the 1.25 kb HindIII-SstI fragment does not allow bacteria to grow on asulam at 500 µg/ml when cloned into the HindIII-SstI sites of pUC12 but that the fragment does allow bacteria to grow on asulam at 500 ug/ml when cloned into the same sites of pUC19. These data indicate that the sul gene is orientated from the HindIII site towards the SstI site in the HindIII-SstI fragment and that this fragment contained the coding sequence or an essential part of it, but not all the information required for the expression of the gene. The lac 5' sequence is thought to replace the equivalent sul sequence missing in pUC19 sul . Plasmid pBR sul Δ1 was obtained by deleting 550 bp from the EcoRI end of the 2.8 kb EcoR1-Sal1 fragment of R46 using BAL31 and by cloning the resulting fragment into pBR322 as shown in Figure 1. The EcoRI-ClaI fragment from pBR322, containing the -35 sequence of the Tc r promoter, was deleted in pBR sul Δ1 to give pBR sul Δ2. A 300 bp SstI-SalI fragment was deleted at the other extremity of the R46 sequence remaining in pBR sulΔ2 , giving pBR sul Δ3. The growth of E. coli JM101 harbouring pBR sul Δ3 in minimal medium containing asulam at 500 µg/ml is shown in Figure 2. This indicates that none of the deletions affect the resistance to asulam. Consequently, the 1.8 kb sequence remaining in pBR sul Δ3 contains all the information required for the expression of the sul gene. (b) Nucleotide sequencing The strategy used to determine the nucleotide sequence of the 1.8 kb fragment from R46 remaining in pBR sul Δ3 is shown in Figure 3. The sequence was determined using the dideoxy chain extension method (Sanger et al ., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74 , 5463-5467, 1977) as described by Mullineaux et al ., (EMBO J., 3 , 3063-3068, 1984), except that [³⁵S]dATP was used for radiolabelling. In some cases, dITP and Sequenase (United States Biochemical Corp.) were used in the reactions instead of dGTP and Klenow polymerase. The sequence is presented in Figure 4. An open reading frame (ORF) of 840bp, preceded by a putative Shine and Dalgarno sequence, was present in the sequence. (c) Expression of the sul gene The putative coding sequence was recovered from pUC19 sul and placed in frame with the first codons of the lacZ gene in pUC19, to form pJIT92 as shown in Figure 5. This was achieved as follows. pUC19 sul was cut with StyI. After treatment with T₄ polymerase to fill in the ends, the small fragment containing the sul start codon was eluted from an agarose gel and cloned into the HincII site of pUC19, giving pUC sul (Sty), in which the lacZ ATG and the sul ATG are in frame. The BsmI fragment of pUC19 sul was eluted from an agarose gel after treatment with T₄ polymerase and cloned into the filled-in HindIII site of pUC9, giving pUC sul (Bsm). The sul stop codon present in the BsmI site is thus restored by the HindIII site (confirmed by sequencing). To reconstruct the entire sul gene, the SstII-BamHI fragment from pUC sul (Bsm) was inserted into the same sites of pUC sul (sty), creating pJIT92, which contains the entire sul coding sequence in frame with the lacZ first codons. E. coli JM101 harbouring pJIT92 were deposited at the National Collection of Industrial and Marine Bacteria, Aberdeen, GB on 26 October 1989 under accession number NCIMB 40218. A frame shift was created between the lacZ ATG and the sul ATG, creating PJIT92ΔNc. This was achieved by cutting pJIT92 with NcoI, followed by treatment with T₄ polymerase and self-ligation so that four bases were added between the lacZ and sul start codons. The frame shift is shown in Figure 5. Asulam resistance was determined as in (a) above. The results are shown in Figure 6. These indicate that the expression of the sul gene was driven by the lac promoter in pJIT92. Translation of the mRNA would lead to the synthesis of the predicted protein when initiated at the sul ATG and of a fusion protein when initiated at the lacZ ATG. The frame shift present in pJIT92ΔNc reduced the level of resistance to asulam to a level close to the one induced by pUC19 sul . The frame shift would have resulted in the synthesis of an abnormal protein when the translation was initiated at the lacZ ATG. In some cases, the translation may have been initated at the sul ATG, generating a certain amount of functional protein. This would explain the residual resistance to asulam of bacteria having pJIT92ΔNc as seen in Figure 6. These results confirm that the ORF recovered from pUC19 sul coded for sulphonamide resistance. (d) Analysis of the protein sequence The amino acid sequence of the mutated DHPS was deduced from the nucleotide sequence shown in Figure 4. The predicted protein contained 279 amino acids and its molcular weight is 30106. The protein possesses a hydrophobic -NH₂ end and a hydrophilic -COOH end. The amino acid sequence showed no significant homology with the 4931 sequences present in the PIR data base (release 15.0) of the National Biomedical Research Foundation (Aberdeen, GB). EXAMPLE: Plant transformation 1. Material and methods (a) Molecular cloning In a first step to constructing pJIT119, the sul coding sequence was recovered from pJIT92 and inserted into the polylinker of pJIT117 (Guerineau et al ., Nucleic Acids Res. 16 , 11380, 1988). pJIT92 was cut with Nco I, treated with T₄ polymerase, cut with Sal I and the digested fragments were separated by electrophoresis in an agarose gel. The fragment containing the sul gene was eluted from the gel as described in Maniatis et al . (Molecular Cloning -A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1982) and ligated to pJIT117 previously cut with Sph I, treated with T₄ polymerase and cut with Sal I, creating pJIT118. The nucleotide sequence at the cloning junction was checked after subcloning a Hin dIII- Pst I fragment carrying the junction into M13mp18 (Yanisch-Perron et al ., 1985). The nucleotide sequence was determined by the dideoxy-chain extension method (Sanger et al ., 1977). pJIT58 was constructed by insertion of the gus coding sequence recovered from pBI101-2 (Jefferson et al ., EMBO J. 6 3901-3907, 1987), into pJIT30. pJIT30 is an expression cassette made of a pUC-derived vector carrying the sequence from CaMV Cabb-JI corresponding to coordinates 7040-7432 (Franck et al ., Cell 21 , 285-294, 1980) and containing the 35S promoter, a polylinker and the sequence 7435 to 126 from CaMV providing a polyadenylation signal. The fusion 35S- gus -poly A was moved from pJIT58 into the polylinker of pBIN19 (Bevan, Nucleic Acids Res. 12 , 8711-8721 1984) as a Kpn I- Xho I fragment, generating pJIT59. The fusion 35S promoter- rbc S transit peptide (TP)- sul -polyadenylation sequence was recovered from pJIT118 as a Kpn I fragment and cloned into the Kpn I site of pJIT59, upstream from the gus gene, giving pJIT119. The organisation of pJIT119 is shown in Figure 7. pGEMTPSUL was constructed by insertion of the fusion transit peptide- sul recovered from pJIT118 as a Hind III- Eco RI fragment, into the polylinker of pGEM-4Z (Promega). E. coli JM101 harbouring pJIT119 were deposited at the National Collection of Industrial and Marine Bacteria, Aberdeen GB on 26 October 1989 under accession number NCIMB 40219. (b) Chloroplast import experiments The sul and TP-sul genes cloned into pGEM-4Z were transcribed using SP6 RNA polymerase, and capped transcripts were translated in a wheat-germ lysate in the presence of [³⁵S]-methionine (Anderson et al ., Methods Enzymol. 101 , 635-644, 1983; Melton et al ., Nucleic Acids Res. 12 , 7035-7056, 1984). The translation products were incubated with isolated pea leaf chloroplasts as described (Robinson and Ellis, Eur. J. Biochem. 152 , 67-73, 1985). After import, the chloroplasts were incubated with trypsin to digest non-imported proteins, and the organelles were fractionated into stromal and membrane samples. Samples were analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by fluorography. (c) Plant transformation Nicotiana tabacum cv Samsun plants were grown in a glasshouse under standard conditions. Approximately 1 cm² leaf pieces were cut from surface sterilized leaves and floated on MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, Physiol. Plant 15 , 473-497, 1962) containing 3% sucrose, 1 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), 0.1 mg/l α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 3mM 2-[N-morpholino]-ethanesulfonic acid (MES), pH 5.7. Bacteria obtained from overnight cultures of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 (Hoekema et al ., Nature 303 , 179-180, 1983) containing pJIT59 or pJIT119, were centrifuged and resuspended in the same volume of MS medium. One tenth of volume was added to the floating leaf pieces. Cocultivation was carried out for three days at 25°C under light (Photoperiod 16h/8h). Leaf pieces were blotted dried onto absorbing paper and placed on MS medium as above but containing 0.8% agar, 500 µg/ml of ampicillin, 250 µg/ml cefotaxime and the selective agent at various concentrations. Asulam or sulfadiazine was used for selecting transformants. After one month culture, shoots, developed on leaf pieces placed on selective media, were cut off and rooted on 0.5 x MS medium containing 1% sucrose, 1% agar, 3mM MES pH 5.7, 200 µg/ml ampicillin, 100 µg/ml cefotaxime and eventually sulfadiazine as indicated. Plantlets were transferred to soil when rooted, generally after a month, and grown until seeds could be harvested. Seeds were sterilized in 10% (vol) Domestos (Trade Mark) for 15 min and washed four times in sterile distilled water. Germination took place in Petri dishes containing 0.5 x MS medium supplemented with 1% sucrose, 1% agar and sulfadiazine as indicated in the text. (d) Plant DNA extraction and analysis Plantlets were ground in 2 ml of grinding buffer (Tris 100 mM pH 8, ethylene diamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) 20 mM, SDS 0.1%, diethyldithiocarbamate 0.5%) per g fresh weight of tissue. Two extractions with one volume of water-saturated phenol/chloroform (1vol/1vol) were carried out and nucleic acids were ethanol precipitated. Pellets were dissolved in one ml/g of distilled water and one volume of a solution containing 13% polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 6000 and 0.8 M NaCl was added to the aqueous phase. Precipitation was allowed for 30 min at 0°C. DNA was recovered by centrifugation for 5 min at 10000 g. Pellets were washed with 70% ethanol, dried and dissolved in distilled water. DNA concentration was determined using the fluorimetric method as described by Thomas and Farquhar (Anal. Biochem. 89 ,35-44, 1978). For analysis, 10 µg of DNA was digested overnight with 100 units of Eco RI and electrophoresed through a 0.8% agarose gel. The gel was processed and DNA was blotted onto nitrocellulose membrane as descrbed in Maniatis et al . (1982). Prehybridization was carried out for 3h at 65°C in 5 x SSC (1 x SSC is 15 mM sodium citrate, 150 mM NaCl), 25 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.5, 0.1% SDS, 5 mM EDTA, 5 x Denhart solution (1 x Denhart solution is 0.02% Fico11, 0.02% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), 0.02% bovine serum albumin (BSA)), 100 µg/ml denatured calf thymus DNA. 35 ng of sul DNA fragment was labelled with [³²P]dCTP using the random oligonucleotide priming method (Feinberg and Vogelstein, Anal. Biochem. 132 , 6-13, 1983) to a specific activity higher than 10⁹ counts per minute (CPM)/µg. Hybridization was carried out overnight at 65°C in the prehybridization solution. The membrane was washed in 2 x SSC, 0.1% SDS for 30 min at room temperature, then in 2 x SSC, 0.1% SDS for 30min at 65°C, then twice in 0.1 x salt and sodium citrate (SSC), 0.1% SDS, for 30 min at 65°C. The membrane was exposed to preflashed X-ray film for 2 days. 2. Results (a) Construction of pJIT119 containing a sul chimeric gene In order to target the bacterial DHPS to chloroplasts, the sul coding sequence was fused to the pea ribulose bis-phosphate carboxylase/oxygenase ( rbcS ) transit peptide sequence contained in the expression cassette pJIT117 (Guerineau et al ., 1988). The fusion was made so that the sul ATG translation initiation codon was exactly in the same position as the mature rbcS ATG in the native enzyme (Figure 7). The bacterial DHPS was expected to be released from the transit peptide in the chloroplast stroma, in the same form as it is synthesised in bacteria, i.e. not as a fusion protein. For transcription of the chimeric gene, a CaMV 35S promoter with a duplicated enhancer region and CaMV gene VI polyadenylation signal were placed at the 5′ and 3′ ends respectively of the TP-sul coding sequence. In the final construct used for plant transformation, the chimeric sul gene was inserted between the right and the left T-DNA border of the binary vector pBIN19 (Bevan, 1984) which also carried the chimaeric uid A gene (β-glucuronidase ( gus )) gene (Jefferson et al ., 1986) placed under control of the 35S promoter (Figure 7). The construct was mobilized into Agrobacterium tumefaciens disarmed strain LBA4404 (Hoekema et al ., 1983) using the helper plasmid pRK2013. (b) In vitro transport of DHPS into isolated chloroplasts In order to confirm that the rbcS transit peptide is capable of targetting DHPS into chloroplasts, we tested whether chloroplasts are capable of importing the fusion protein in vitro . The protein (TP-DHPS) was synthesized by the in vitro transcription followed by translation in a wheat-germ lysate. This expression system generated TP-DHPS and also a protein of lower M r . The latter corresponds to mature-sized DHPS which is probably generated by internal initiation; a polypeptide of identical M r was synthesized if DHPS cDNA is expressed by this method. TP-DHPS was imported into the stroma of isolated pea chloroplasts and processed to a lower M r form. The processed protein had a mobility similar to that of mature-sized DHPS, suggesting that the entire pre-sequence had been removed. In control experiments (not shown), it was found that mature-sized DHPS (lacking the transit peptide sequence) was not imported by chloroplasts under these conditions. These data show that the rbcS RUBISCO transit peptide sequence effectively targets DHPS into the chloroplast stroma. (c) Transformation of tobacco leaf explants with pJIT119 During preliminary experiments, our sul gene was placed under control of the CaMV 35S promoter and transferred to tobacco plants. Although evidence was obtained that the gene was transcribed, no increase in the level of resistance to sulfonamides was recorded in transformed leaf tissues (data not shown). Tobacco leaf pieces were then cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 carrying pJIT119, and placed on medium containing 50 µg/ml of kanamycin. No shoots developed on untreated control leaf pieces whereas a number of shoots grew on cocultivated leaf pieces. Shoots were rooted and assayed for β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity. Leaf pieces from four of the plantlets showing GUS activity and from an untransformed control were placed on medium containing various concentrations of sulfadiazine. No shoots developed on untransformed control leaf pieces after three weeks on sulfadiazine at 5 µg/ml, whereas shoots developed on leaf pieces prepared from three of the plantlets showing GUS activity, on medium containing up to 500 µg/ml of sulfadiazine. These data indicate that a high level of resistance to sulfadiazine was present in leaf tissue of plantlets displaying GUS activity after cocultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying pJIT119. (d) Direct selection of transformants on sulfonamides To determine if the level of resistance to sulfadiazine recorded in shoots selected on kanamycin was sufficient to allow direct selection of transformants, tobacco leaf explants were cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying pJIT119 and placed on medium containing asulam or sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml. This value was chosen because untransformed leaf explants did not produce any shoots for one month, on medium containing that concentration. In a first experiment, asulam was used as the sole selective agent. Shoots developed on leaf explants cocultivated with Agrobacterium harbouring pJIT119 but not on those treated with bacteria carrying pJIT59, a pBIN19 derivative carrying the gus gene but not having the sul gene. Seven shoots growing on leaf explants cocultivated with Agrobacterium carrying pJIT119 were rooted and plants were regenerated. DNA was extracted from plantlets grown from seeds of each of the selected plants and probed for the presence of the bacterial sul gene. Progeny of all seven plants was shown to contain the bacterial sequence, indicating that the shoots selected on asulam were transformants. In a second experiment, sulfadiazine was used as the sole selective agent. Nine shoots selected on leaf explants cocultivated with Agrobacterium harbouring pJIT119 were placed on rooting medium containing sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml. Eight rooted and grew normally and one did not. All shoots showed specific GUS activity higher than 100 times the background activity of untransformed material. None of twelve untransformed control shoots rooted and their growth was completely inhibited on sulfadiazine at the same concentration. In a third experiment, fifteen shoots selected on asulam were placed on rooting medium containing 100 µg/ml of sulfadiazine. Three did not produce any roots, did not grow and turned yellow, one grew very slowly and produced only one root, eleven grew and rooted normally. GUS assays on rooted shoots showed that ten out of twelve had high GUS activity. Leaf pieces from the two rooted plantlets not showing any GUS activity were challenged on sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml. They both produced shoots normally whereas untransformed controls bleached, suggesting that the sul gene was expressed in those two selected shoots although the gus gene was not. These three experiments demonstrated that the direct selection on sulfonamides, of transformed shoots on leaf explants after transformation with pJIT119, was efficient. (e) Analysis of the progeny of transformed plants Seeds harvested from two self-fertilized transformed plants during the first selection experiment and seeds from an untransformed control plant, were germinated on medium containing various concentrations of sulfadiazine. Seedlings from the untransformed seeds died soon after germination, on 20 µg/ml of sulfadiazine and more, whereas transformed seedlings developed normally on sulfadiazine at concentrations up to 200 µg/ml. The growth of transformed seedlings was slightly reduced on sulfadiazine at 500 µg/ml. In order to record the pattern of segregation of the introduced character, seeds from the seven transformed plants obtained during the first selection experiment were germinated on sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml. Growth was monitored for two weeks. Seedlings developed normally from the seed harvested on 5 out of 7 transformed plants. The segregation of sulfonamide resistance is shown in Table 1. Plant Number of seeds Ratio resistant sensitive 1 117 38 3.1/1 2 120 34 3.5/1 3 76 24 3.2/1 4 77 23 3.2/1 5 68 32 2.1/1 The segregation patterns were in most cases three to one which is to be expected from a dominant character encoded by a determinant integrated into the genome at one locus. No difference in the growth of seedlings on sulfadiazine, indicating homozygotic or heterozygotic status, even at 500 µg/ml, could be observed. In constrast, GUS assays allowed a clear distinction between seedlings having one or two alleles of the inserted T-DNA (data not shown). No seedling grew on sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml, from the seed harvested on two out of the seven transformed plants. However, in both cases, approximately 75% of the seedlings had formed yellow or even green cotyledons, after one month on media containing sulfadiazine at 100 µg/ml. A very low GUS activity, although significantly higher than the activity of untransformed control seedlings, was detected in some of these seedlings. This seemed to indicate that the sul and the gus genes were only very weakly expressed in the progeny of these two plants. Overall, these data indicate that the sulfonamide resistance gene was transmitted to the progeny of transformed plants and was expressed as a dominant character.

Claims: A method of transforming a plant cell, which method comprises: (i) transforming a plant cell whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide or a salt thereof which acts by inhibition of dihydropterate synthase (DHPS) with a chimaeric gene comprising (a) a plant promoter, (b) a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and (c) a plant polyadenylation/terminator sequence; (ii) selecting a transformed plant cell whose growth is resistant to inhibition by a said sulfonamide or salt thereof; (iii) optionally, regenerating from the transformed plant cell a genetically transformed plant which exhibits the said resistance; (iv) optionally, obtaining seed from the regenerated plant; and (v) optionally, propagating plants from the seed. A method according to claim 1, wherein the promoter of the chimaeric gene is selected from the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promoter or a nopaline synthase or octopine synthase promoter. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sulfonamide resistance gene of the chimaeric gene encodes a modified DHPS having the amino acid sequence; or the said sequence modified by one or more amino acid insertions and/or deletions provided that resistance to a said sulfonamide is conferred on a cell when the said gene is expressed therein. A method according to claim 3, wherein the said gene has the DNA sequence; or the said sequence modified by one or more codon insertions and/or deletions provided that resistance to a said sulfonamide is conferred on a cell when the said gene is expressed therein. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transit peptide sequence of the chimaeric gene encodes the transit peptide for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the said sulfonamide is asulam. A DNA fragment comprising a sulfonamide resistance gene having a sequence encoding a transit peptide fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene, as defined in any one of claims 1 and 3 to 5. A chimaeric gene as defined in any one of claims 1 to 5. A vector which comprises a chimaeric gene as defined in claim 8 such that the chimaeric gene is capable of being expressed in a plant cell transformed therewith. A plant cell which has been transformed with a chimaeric gene as defined in claim 8. A transgenic plant which contains in its cells a chimaeric gene as defined in claim 8 such that the plant exhibits resistance to a herbicide which acts by inhibiting DHPS. A plant according to claim 11, wherein the herbicide is asulam. Seed obtained from a transgenic plant as claimed in claim 11 or 12. A method of controlling the growth of weeds at a locus, which method comprises applying an effective amount of a herbicide which acts by inhibiting DHPS to a locus where a transgenic plant as claimed in claim 11 is being cultivated. A method according to claim 14, wherein the herbicide is asulam. A DNA fragment comprising a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and, linked thereto, a gene encoding a second trait such that, when the fragment is used to transform a cell, the expression of sulfonamide resistance by the cell can be utilised as an indicator that the cell has been transformed by both the sulfonamide resistance gene and the said gene coding for the second trait. A method of transforming a cell, which method comprises: (i) co-introducing a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene and a gene encoding a second trait into a cell whose growth is sensitive to inhibition by a sulfonamide or a salt thereof which acts by inhibition of DHPS, such that the said sulphonamide resistance gene acts as a marker gene for the said gene encoding a second trait; and (ii) selecting a transformed cell whose growth is resistant to inhibition by a said sulfonamide or salt thereof. Use of a sulfonamide resistance gene which encodes a modified DHPS and which has a sequence encoding a transit peptide cleavable from the modified DHPS fused directly to the 5'-end of the resistance gene as a selectable marker gene in plant cells and plants. pJIT119 (NCIMB 40219).

Inventors: GUERINEAU JEAN FRANCOIS, MULLINEAUX PHILIP MARK, PARNELL EDGAR WILLIAM, GUERINEAU, JEAN FRANCOIS, MULLINEAUX, PHILIP MARK, PARNELL, EDGAR WILLIAM, Guerineau, Jean François
Applicants: AGREVO UK LTD, AGRICULTURAL GENETICS CO, BIOTAL LTD, BP NUTRITION, CAMBRIDGE ADVANCED TECH, CIBA GEIGY PLC, NICKERSON BIOCEM LTD, RHONE POULENC LTD, TWYFORD SEEDS LIMITED, UNILEVER UK CENTRAL RESOURCES, ZENECA LTD, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES (CAMBRIDGE) LIMITED, AGREVO UK LIMITED, AGRICULTURAL GENETICS COMPANY LIMITED, BIOTAL LIMITED, BP NUTRITION LIMITED, CIBA-GEIGY PLC, NICKERSON BIOCEM LIMITED, RHONE-POULENC LIMITED, UNILEVER U.K. CENTRAL RESOURCES LIMITED, ZENECA LIMITED
Application year: 1989
Main classification: C12N15
IPC codes: C12N15, A01H1, C12N9, A01H5