Pi sum Genetics
2003—Volume 35
Research Papers
Genome walking in pea:
an approach to clone unknown flanking sequences
Chawla, R. and
DeMason, D.
Botany and Plant Sci.
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
The isolation and characterization of unknown DNA sequences flanking known regions are critical,
especially for the analysis of upstream and downstream noncoding regions. The traditional approach for
'walking' from regions of known sequence into flanking DNA sequences involves the successive probing of
libraries with clones obtained from prior screenings. This method of screening DNA libraries is a relatively
time consuming procedure and requires the use of radioactive probes. Advancements in the PCR technique
have helped researchers to reduce this time and avoid the use of radioactive probes (1). Genome walking is a
relatively fast, reliable and general approach to sequence or clone DNA adjacent to a known region.
Promoters are segments of DNA that regulate the timing and location of gene expression. The promoter
sequence is usually located upstream of the transcription start site, but regulatory elements can be present in
5' untranslated regions (UTRs), within introns or in the 3' UTRs of genes. Analysis of promoter sequences in
combination with new databases like PLACE (http://www.dna.affrc.go.jp/htdocs/PLACE/fasta.html) and
PlantCARE (http://oberon.fvms.ugent.be:8080/PlantCARE/index.html) provide possible insights into the
regulation of important plant genes. One very powerful way of modifying the characteristics of plants is to
target the expression of introduced genes to specific parts of the plant or at specific stages of the life cycle
using promoters with known specificity. Very few pea promoters are currently known. The goal of this paper
is to summarize our success with cloning promoter sequences of pea genes using the technique of genome
walking. We discuss the method by
which it works and the results obtained.
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Materials and Methods
Plant materials
The pea genotype used in this study
is from the Marx collection, which
resides in the USDA Western Regional
Plant Introduction Station. It is W6
22593, which is designated as WT or Af
St Tl. Seeds were sown in UC soil mix
supplemented with slow release fertilizer
in 1 gallon pots and plants were grown
under standard greenhouse conditions
and natural light regimes. Leaves of 1-
month old plants were frozen at -80 C
until DNA extraction.
The GenomeWalking technique
The GenomeWalking technique is
summarized in Fig. 1. First, genomic
DNA is isolated from plant tissues. The
quality of DNA is checked for high
average molecular weight on a 0.8%
agarose gel. The starting DNA must be
very clean and have a high average
Fig. 1. Flow chart of the GenomeWalker protocol. AP1 and AP2
represent adaptor primers and GSP1 and GSP2 represent gene
specific primers.
molecular weight, requiring a higher quality preparation than the minimum suitable for Southern blotting or
coventional PCR. The DNA is digested by blunt end cutting enzymes. DraI, PvuII, EcoRV and StuI are the
enzymes provided in the Universal GenomeWalker kit (Clontech, USA). However, other enzymes that
leave a blunt end could be also be used, expanding the number of libraries that can be generated. The
digested DNA is then purified and ligated overnight at 16 C with the adaptors provided in the kit. These are
referred to as GenomeWalker "libraries". The next step is to design a pair of gene specific primers (GSP1 and
GSP2). The GSP1 primer can be from the coding region of the gene and GSP2 should be further upstream to
give a nested product in the subsequent PCR. These primers should be 26-30 nucleotides in length and have
a G/C-content of 40-60%. This ensures that the primers anneal effectively to the template at an annealing
and extension temperature of 67 C. The primary PCR reaction uses the outer adaptor primer (AP1) and the
outer gene-specific primer (GSP1). The product of the primary walk is then diluted and used as a template
for a secondary walk with the nested adaptor (AP2) and nested gene-specific (GSP2) primers. The major
PCR products obtained are gel extracted using Ultra DNA kit (Millipore) and sequenced and aligned with
the help of the GCG program. Each of the DNA fragments begins with a known sequence at the 5' end of
GSP2 and extends into the unknown adjacent genomic DNA. This DNA can be cloned for further analysis.
The 5' upstream regions thus obtained can be scanned for regulatory elements using the PLACE (3) and
PlantCARE (cis-acting regulatory elements) (4) programs. This whole sequence can be repeated to obtain
additional 5' as needed.
Specific Results
The DNA was isolated from
WT pea leaves according to
Dellaporta et al. (2) except that
the genomic DNA was RNase-
treated and extracted with
phenol and chloroform, washed
with 70% ethanol, dried and
dissolved in TE. For the con-
struction of GenomeWalker
libraries, 11 blunt-end cutting
restriction enzymes (EcoRV,
DraI, PvuII, StuI, SmaI, SnaBI,
HpaI NruI, NaeI, SspI and ScaI)
were used individually to digest
this genomic DNA completely.
Each batch of digested genomic
DNA was purified and ligated to
the adaptors provided in the
Universal GenomeWalker kit
3-2.jpg
(Clontech, USA) according to
the manufacturer's protocol.
Fig. 2. Representative gels from primary walk (a) and secondary walk (b) for
PsArgonaute2. upstream region. Markers are PstI cut lambda DNA.
The primers used for obtaining
the 5' upstream region of each gene were designed from the coding region of each gene and in cases where
multiple walks were required, primers were designed from the sequence obtained from the first set of walking.
The Primer3 program was used to design these primers (5). The libraries were then used to perform primary
and secondary PCR reactions as necessary. The primary PCR gives multiple bands in each lane with a
general background smear (Fig. 2a). The secondary PCR using the internal primers and the diluted primary
PCR product as the template, selectively amplifies the desired product in the subsequent nested PCR resulting
in a single bright band (Fig. 2b). The kit also provides preconstructed Human GenomeWalker Library as well
as specific primers (PCP1 and PCP2 for the plasminogen activator gene) as a positive control for PCR
(control library) which generates a major product of 1.5 kb (Fig. 2a, b). For negative controls a reaction
lacking a GenomeWalker library or lacking the GSP1 was used. The PCR fragments were then purified using
the Ultra DNA kit (Millipore) as per the manufacturer's instructions. In this case the product selected was
the 1500 bp DraI product (Fig. 2b, first lane) because it was the largest, major band. To verify the
authenticity, this product was sequenced and compared for the 5'-end overlap.
We have identified upstream regions for 5 pea genes using this technique. Two of the genes are PsPINl
(AY222857) and PsPK2 (M69031) which are orthologs of Arabidopsis PIN1 and PINOID genes. These
genes are involved in auxin transport. With two sets of walks, we were able to obtain 1500 bp of PsPINl and
2800 bp of PsPK2 upstream regions. Analysis of their sequences obtained using the PlantCARE and PLACE
programs revealed the presence of multiple presumed auxin-responsive elements as well, as those responsive to
other plant hormones. We also obtained a 2405 bp of the Unifoliata (AF035163) gene promoter, which is
the ortholog of Arabidopsis LEAFY (M91208). Further, promoters of two recently cloned genes involved in
pea development, PsArgonautel (589 bp) and PsArgonaute2 (858 bp) were also obtained (unpublished).
These promoter sequences were further analyzed in silico using the programs mentioned above, which
revealed potentially important aspects about their regulation and are presently under experimental
investigation.
Conclusion
The Universal Genome Walking system enables researchers to create uncloned libraries for walking by
PCR with any genomic DNA. These libraries can be used over and over to clone additional DNA sequences
as necessary. In less than a week, the method provides access to the genomic DNA sequences adjacent to a
known DNA sequence. Although we have focused on obtaining promoters, GenomeWalker DNA walking
can also be used to map intron/exon junctions and to walk bidirectionally from any sequence-tagged site
(STS) or expressed sequence tag (EST). Multiple steps can be strung together to create longer walks.
Consequently, this method is useful for filling in gaps in genome maps, particularly when the missing clones
have been difficult to obtain by conventional library screening methods.
To summarize, the technique of Genome Walking has been standardized in pea and can now be exploited
to dissect out promoters of important genes for future research involving the understanding of transcriptional
regulation and directed expression in this economically important legume.
Acknowledgements: The authors thank Janet Giles for performing genome walking for PsArgonaute1, PsArgonaute2 and
Unifoliata and Fang Bai for PsPK2. This work was supported by a grant from USDA/CSREES 2001-35304-10958 to
D.A.D.
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