Efficient transgene expression by alleviation of translational repression in plant cells

Global translational repression under abiotic stress influences translation of both endogenous and transgene mRNAs. Even in plant cell culture, hypoxia and nutrient deficient stress arise during the growth process. In this study, we first demonstrated the existence of global translational repression in Arabidopsis T87 cultured cells over a time course following inoculation. Next, we performed genome-wide analysis, which revealed that the translational states of endogenous mRNAs differed significantly between growth and stationary phase cells. This analysis showed that translation from most mRNAs was repressed upon stationary phase. Otherwise, a part of mRNA including alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene was recalcitrant to the repression. Furthermore, by polysome analysis and followed quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis of transformants having 5′untranslated regions (UTRs) of ADH or translationally repressed At3g47610 mRNA fused to reporter gene, we demonstrated that polysomal associations of reporter mRNAs were in accordance with those the mRNAs from which their 5′UTR derived, suggesting that the 5′UTR is an important determinant of the translational state of mRNAs in stationary phase cells. Finally, we demonstrated the effectiveness of 5′UTR of ADH mRNA in transformants derived from the BY-2 tobacco cell line. These results suggested that 5′UTR of ADH mRNA would be a useful element for efficient transgene expression upon stationary phase.