The Coding sequence of firefly luciferase reporter gene affects specific hyperexpressionArabidopsis thaliana cpl1mutant

Abstract

AbstractForward genetic screening of mutants using firefly luciferase (LUC) reporter gene became a standard practice in plant research. Such screenings frequently identified alleles ofCPL1(Carboxyl-terminal Phosphatase-Like 1) regardless of promoters or pathways studied. Expression of the corresponding endogenous genes often shows the minimal difference between wild type andcpl1.Here we show that theLUCcoding sequence is responsible for the high expression incpl1,using a classicalRD29a-LUC. Deletion of theLUC3’-UTR did not change hyperactivation ofLUCincpl1.However, a codon-modifiedLUC(LUC2) produced similar expression levels both in wild type and incpl1. These results indicate that the coding region ofLUCis responsible for thecpl1-specificLUCoverexpression uncoupled with the expression of the endogenous counterpart.