Two seed coat-specific promoters are functionally conserved between Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus

Canola is one of the most important cash crops in Canada, and a national project named Designing Oilseeds for Tomorrow's Market was undertaken to improve seed meal quality of this strategically important crop. As a part of this project, our group is focusing on identifying seed coat-specific promoters for canola (Brassica napus). These promoters will be used to genetically modify canola seed coat to reduce or eliminate anti-nutritional components from the meal. The Arabidopsis thaliana BAN promoter (AtBANpro) and delta VPE promoter (At delta VPEpro) were isolated and fused to GUS reporter gene to generate transgenic canola plants. These plants were analyzed by GUS staining and microtome sectioning which showed that both promoters are seed coat-specific in canola: AtBANpro in inner seed coat layer and At delta VPEpro in outer seed coat layer. Therefore, the two Arabidopsis promoters can be used to modify genes in seed coat of canola for further improving its seed qualities.