Inducible Gene Expression Systems for Plants

Several systems for induction of transgene expression in plants have been described recently. Inducible systems were used mainly in tobacco, rice, Arabidopsis, tomato, and maize. Inducible systems offer researchers the possibility to deregulate gene expression levels at particular stages of plant development and in particular tissues of interest. The more precise temporal and spatial control, obtained by providing the transgenic plant with the appropriate chemical compound or treatment, permits to analyze also the function of those genes required for plant viability. In addition, inducible systems allow promoting local changes in gene expression levels without causing gross alterations to the whole plant development. Here, protocols will be presented to work with five different inducible systems: AlcR/AlcA (ethanol inducible); GR fusions, GVG, and pOp/LhGR (dexamethasone inducible); XVE/OlexA (β-estradiol inducible); and heat shock induction.