Describe in conceptual detail how you would want to alter th

Describe in conceptual detail how you would want to alter the bacterial gene to optimize expression in plants. Consider the transcriptional control, transcript processing, protein coding, and translational control sequences.

Solution

Altering the bacterial genes for optimized expression in plants takes into account the differences in prokaryotic and eukaryotic gene expression. The following features can be incorporated into the bacterial gene for better expression in plants.

1) Transcriptional control - Use of plant specific promoters like chloroplast promoters, use of plant derived transcription terminators

2) Transcript processing - Checking for potential splice signals which may cause recognition as introns and initiate unwanted spicing in plants.

3) Protein coding - Codon replacement - Some codon are more preferred in plants compared to bacteria which also have a higher GC content. Replacement of bases can increase expression in plants.

4) Translational control sequences - Addition of m⁷G-cap at their 5-terminus, and plant specific 3\'UTR and Poly adenylation signals