Iron Accumulation in Transgenic Red Pepper Plants Introduced Fp1 Gene Encoding the Iron Storage Protein

The Fipl gene, originally isolated from red pepper secdlings, encode the iron storage protein, and have a high homology with ferritin genes at DNA and amino acid level. In order to determine ferritin protein expression in vegetative tissue, Fpl gene was constructed in plant expression vector(PIG121 Hm) and introduced in red pepper{ var. Bukang, Chungyang and Kalay-Kimjang 2) via Agrobacterium tumefaciensinediated transformation. After selection on MS media containing kanamycin(Km), putatively selecied transformants were confirmed by amplification of selectable marker genet Fpl and NPTII) by polymerase chain reaction. Northern blot showed that transcripts of Fp1 gene were detected in mature leaves of the plants. In A6, A7 and A8 and Al4 of transgenic plants, transcript of Fpl gene was increased seven-fold to eight-fold than other transgenic plants. Also the proteins obtained from leaves of transgenic plants were immunologically detected by Western blot using rabbil anti-ferritin polyclonal antibody. The expression protein appeared as strong band of apparent mass of 23.5kDa, suggesting the iron accumulation in transgenic red pepper plants.