2016, 29(6): 946-950.
[Objective] In order to study the function of Arabidopsis thaliana methyltransferase gene AtMET1, 17-β-estradiol inducible plant expression vector pER8-MET1 was constructed, and its characters of inducible expression were detected. [Methods] The AtMET1 gene from Arabidopsis thaliana was used as the target gene, and ‘digestion-ligation’ method was applied for constructing the plant expression vector pER8-MET1, which could be induced by 17-β-estradiol. Then the vector was transferred to Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404. The Agrobacterium strain containing pER8-GFP vector was injected into the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum, then the leaves were induced by 17-β-estradiol in different levels of concentrations and time durations. QPCR was performed to detect GFP gene expression, through which the optimum concentration and time duration were screened. The Agrobacterium strain containing pER8-MET1 vector was injected into the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum, then the leaves were induced by optimal concentration of 17-β-estradiol through different time durations. QPCR was performed to detect MET1 gene expression. [Results] The results of qPCR showed that 17-β-estradiol can effectively induce the expression of the target gene in pER8-MET1 and the optimal concentration of 17-β-estradiol is 50 μmol·L-1. The expression level of MET1 gene gradually increased with 17-β-estradiol treating time and reached the highest level at 12h. [Conclusion] The pER8-MET1 vector was successfully constructed. The construction of the plant expression vector pER8-MET1 lays a good foundation for the mechanism study on the relationship between DNA methylation and phenotype variation.