Specific expression of a sesame storage protein in transgenic rice bran

Rice oil bodies enclosed by unique structural proteins, oleosins, are found in the embryo and the aleurone layer, but not the starchy endosperm where starch and storage proteins are accumulated. To examine oleosin promoter specificity, a sesame storage protein, 2S albumin, was expressed in transgenic rice seeds under the control of a rice oleosin promoter. In all transgenic rice seeds, the sesame 2S albumin was found exclusively in the bran fraction after milling. Immunological staining revealed that the sesame 2S albumin was also located in the embryo and the outermost cells of the starchy endosperm. Furthermore, immunogold labeling showed that the transgenic 2S albumin was deposited in both type-I and type-II protein bodies of the outermost cells of the endosperm as well as in the type-II protein bodies of the embryo. The methionine and cysteine contents in the bran from four homozygous transgenic lines were elevated by 24-38 and 50-62%, respectively, compared with those of wild-type plants. The results suggest that the rice oleosin promoter is bran-specific and could be used to add value to rice bran, an abundant by-product of rice polishing, by genetic engineering.