Functional analysis of a mesocarp-specific MSP-C7 promoter from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

An unknown gene, MSP-C7 from oil palm was identified to be preferentially expressed in mesocarp tissues previously. However, the minimal length of MSP-C7 promoter required for functional expression of a reporter gene in mesocarp is unknown. The objective of this study was to characterize different parts of MSP-C7 promoter in oil palm mesocarp tissues or protoplasts, and transgenic tomato. Among the six promoter fragments tested, only the MSP-C7-F1 (2122 bp) was able to drive the expression of reporter genes in both oil palm mesocarp tissues/protoplasts and tomato mesocarps. The MSP-C7-F3, MSP-C7-F4 and MSP-C7-F5 were not functional in both transient assays of oil palm mesocarp tissues and transgenic tomato. The regulatory elements residing in different promoter parts may bind to different transcription factors, leading to different gene expression levels and patterns. Meanwhile, the MSP-C7-F6 (442 bp) and MSP-C7-F2 (1874 bp) fragments only drive the expression of reporter gene in either oil palm mesocarp tissues/protoplasts or transgenic tomato, respectively; suggesting that the promoter strength and expression patterns of MSP-C7 fragments in a dicot plant (tomato) may be different from that in a monocot plant (oil palm). Nevertheless, we showed that the 2.1 kb-promoter of MSP-C7 is functional, and sufficient to drive the expression of a reporter gene in the mesocarp tissues of both plants, which is potentially important for genetic engineering in palm oil production.

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