Tissue-specific and wound-inducible pattern of expression of the mannopine synthase promoter is determined by the interaction between positive and negative cis-regulatory elements

In transgenic tobacco plants the regulatory region of the Agrobacterium genes involved in mannopine synthesis (pmas) directs expression in vascular tissues and is induced upon wounding. To identify cis-acting sequences required for the cell-type-specific and wound-inducible expression of this regulatory region, the expression pattern of chimeric genes in which 5′ upstream deletions of the pmas1′ promoter direct the expression of the β-glucuronidase coding sequence, was analyzed in transgenic tobacco plants. It was found that the pmas1′ promoter is specifically expressed in phloem cells and that this tissue-specific pattern of expression is the result of the interaction of at least two negative regulatory elements with a positive element that directs expression in many cell types. It was also found that wound induction is mediated by two different mechanisms, one of them involving a dramatic change in tissue-specific expression.