Minimum Synthetic Inducible Promoters for Host Response to Parasitic Plants

Clicks: 5
ID: 321687
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #27 of 94 articles by views in plant and cell physiology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Parasitic plants are a problem for world agriculture as their direct feeding on hosts can cause high yield losses. One approach to controlling parasitic plants would be to engineer host plants for resistance by expressing an effective defense in response to invasion by the parasite. While much attention has focused on identifying suitable resistance genes, little work has addressed the challenge of identifying promoters to drive specific expression of such genes. To meet this need, we set out to develop a parasite-inducible promoter. Starting with previously generated RNAseq data from Arabidopsis thaliana parasitized by Cuscuta campestris, we identified host genes induced by the parasite and then studied their regulatory regions to identify cis-regulatory elements (CREs). These elements, or transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs), were recombined into a set of minimum synthetic inducible promoters (MSIPs), fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene, and stably transformed into A. thaliana. The MSIP lines were evaluated with and without Cuscuta, and GUS staining showed that most of the MSIPs were induced by Cuscuta parasitism, although they were also expressed in some non-parasitized tissues. The most parasite-specific MSIP contained stress-inducible TFBSs, and was also responsive to wounding, crushing and jasmonate treatment. Furthermore, A. thaliana parasitized by the root parasite Phelipanche aegyptiaca showed similar MSIP induction patterns in roots, suggesting that at least two types of parasitic plant trigger the same host transcriptional machinery. These MSIPs provide insights into host-parasite interactions and are potentially valuable for driving expression of novel parasite resistance genes.
Reference Key
openalex_W7169794683 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Imen Tanniche, Hope Gruszewski, Sukhmanpreet Kaur, James H. Westwood
Journal plant and cell physiology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/pcp/pcag101
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcag101
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.