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TOBACCO PLANT WITH FIREFLY GENE IMPLANT GROWS

TOBACCO PLANT WITH FIREFLY GENE IMPLANT GROWS
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November 7, 1986, Section A, Page 12Buy Reprints
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Tobacco plants have been genetically altered so that they emit light on orders from a gene transplanted from fireflies, a research team reported yesterday.

In total darkness the glow from the plants' leaves, stems and roots can be seen by eye, said members of the research group at the University of California in San Diego. The light emission becomes dramatically visible on photographic film exposed to the plants.

''This is the first time anyone has taken a gene that codes for light production and transferred it into the genetic material of a complex multicellular organism,'' said Dr. Donald R. Helinski, one of the leaders of the research team. Except for their ability to emit light, the plants appear to be completely normal.

Scientists at the university also transplanted the firefly gene into living monkey cells growing in the laboratory. But no details on these experiments were made public because the monkey cell experiments have not yet been published in the scientific literature.

The ability to make cells light up when a gene is activated is expected to be valuable in many future genetic studies. Gene Activation Issue

A key issue is why, when and precisely where particular genes become activated, or when they are turned off. Furthermore, attempts to breed new traits such as disease resistance into crop plants by transplanting genes constitute a major field of current agricultural research.

In all such studies, scientists need ways of learning quickly and definitely whether or not a transplanted gene has been activated and specifically where it has been activated.

Visible light gives an ideal method of detection in this research, the scientists said. Their report on the light-emitting tobacco plants was published in the Nov. 14 issue of Science, which was available yesterday. The authors said the firefly gene should be a powerful aid in assessing gene activation in future experiments.

''It is a marker that is really beyond compare,'' said Dr. Stephen H. Howell, senior plant biologist in the project. He said it was remarkably sensitive and easy to use and that it could reveal almost instantly just where in a plant a gene had been activated.

Dr. Howell said the specially engineered gene used in the transplant experiments would be made available for research to scientists at universities and biotechnology companies. The university has applied for patents on the engineered gene and the process for using it.

In addition to Drs. Helinski and Howell, authors of the report were Dr. Marlene DeLuca, a biochemist at the university in San Diego; Dr. David W. Ow, a postdoctoral fellow; Dr. Jeffrey R. de Wet, and Keith V. Wood, a graduate student. Dr. de Wet, who played a key role in the research, has recently moved to Stanford University. Firefly Gene Modified

In the experiments, the gene for luciferase, the enzyme responsible for the firefly's light production, was modified by adding genetic material that served as a set of activation signals to the plant cells, commanding them to produce the substance for which the gene is the blueprint.

The gene, with the added signal sequences, was then spliced into an infectious ring of genetic material called the Ti plasmid, which is known to infect cells of plants such as tobacco. Plant cells infected with the plasmids were grown into complete tobacco plants.

Succeeding generations of plants grown from seeds of the original plants also contained the transplanted gene and used it for light production. The experiments were done under strict conditions in the laboratory. The plants were not released outside.

To make the genetically engineered plants glow, they were irrigated with water that contained another substance from fireflies, luciferin, which serves as the fuel for the insects' light production. Supplied with this raw material, the genetically engineered tobacco plants glowed. The glow was dim, but could be seen with the unaided eye when the scientists stood in the dark for about 10 minutes so that their eyes became acclimatized. The emitted glow was easily detected immediately by light detection equipment and by photographic film in exposures as little as 15 minutes.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 12 of the National edition with the headline: TOBACCO PLANT WITH FIREFLY GENE IMPLANT GROWS. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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