Jasmonate- Responsive Regions in a Nicotiana sylvestris PMT Gene Involved in Nicotine Biosynthesis

Putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT) catalyzes the first committed step of nicotine biosynthesis in tobacco. Tobacco PMT genes are activated in the root after wounding or by jasmonate treatment. In this study, a dual luciferase transient expression assay was used to show that the promoter of Nicotiana sylvestris NsPMT2 gene is induced by methyljasmonate in tobacco BY-2 protoplasts. An 80-bp TATA-proximal region was necessary and sufficient for the jasmonate response. We further demonstrated that a tetramer of the 24-bp sequence including a T/G-box within the region confers jasmonate responsiveness to a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S minimal promoter.