Stable Inheritance of an Integrated Transgene and Its Expression in Phenylethylisothiocyanate-Enriched Transgenic Chinese cabbage

Abstract

Development of genetically-modified (GM) crops enables the introduction of new traits to the plant to confer characteristics such as disease resistance, herbicide resistance and human health promoting bioactivity. Successful commercialization of newly developed GM crops requires stable inheritance of integrated T-DNA and newly introduced traits through the multiple generations. This study was carried out to confirm the stable inheritance of the integrated T-DNA in T-1 and T-2 transgenic Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) that was genetically modified to increase concentrations of phenylethylisothiocyanate (PEITC), which is a potential anti-carcinogenic phytochemical. For this purpose, the IGA 1-3 (T-1 generation) and IGA 1-3-5 (T-2 generation) lines were selected by PCR and a IGA 1-3 transgenic plant (T-1 generation) was analyzed to confirm the T-DNA insertion site in the Chinese cabbage genome by VA-TAIL PCR. The results of this study showed that the introduced T-DNA in IGA 1 line was stably inherited to the next generations without any variations in terms of the structure of the transgenes, and this line also showed the expected transgene function that resulted in increased concentration of PEITC through the multiple generations. Finally, we confirmed the increased QR activity in IGA 1 T-1 and T-2 transgenic lines, which indicates an enhanced potential anti-carcinogenic bioactivity and its stable inheritance in IGA1 T-1 and T-2 transgenic lines.