Development of an inducible excision system of a visual marker Ipomoea batatas Myb gene from the genome of transgenic cells

In the plant genetic transformation process, single selection by a chemical-resistant marker gene occasionally allows the proliferation of non-transgenic cells, escaping selection pressure. The additional use of a visual marker gene is effective for accurate selection. For instance, R2R3-MYB genes are used for regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis; however, constitutive Myb expression in transgenic plants is not always desirable and may cause developmental abnormalities due to excess anthocyanin accumulation. To overcome the remaining problems in the use of Myb as a visible marker, we developed T-DNA. Ipomoea batatas Myb (IbMyb) and Cre expression cassettes were inserted between two loxP sequences, and the hygromycin phosphotransferase (HPT) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression cassettes were located outside of the loxP-IbMyb-Cre-loxP region. In the developed system, IbMyb and Cre were excised from the genomes of transgenic cells using heat-inducible Cre-loxP recombination. Upon heat treatment in a general incubator, green shoots emerged from purple tobacco transgenic calli that were pigmented with IbMyb expression. The excision of IbMyb from the genome of green shoots was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing. GFP expression was observed in the roots of the obtained green transgenic plants. We report that the system developed here operated successfully in tobacco, showing the potential to provide an easier and cheaper visual selection of transgenic cells in the genetic transformation process.