The copper-regulated gene expression system has been developed to control spacial and temporal expression of transgene in plant. It comprises two parts: (1) ace I gene encoding copper-responsive transcription factor under the control of a constitutive or organ-specific promoter, and (2) a gene of interest under the control of a chimeric promoter consisting of the CaMV 35S (-90 to +8) promoter linked to the metal responsive element (MRE) carrying activating copper-metallothionein expression (ACE1)-binding sites. Here, the effectiveness of two different ACE1-binding cis -elements which derive from 5'-regulatory region of yeast metallothionein gene was investigated in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. W38). The results revealed that the MRE (-210 to -126) could increase the system inducibility by 50% - 100% compared with the previously reported MRE (-148 to -105). It is potential to use the copper-inducible system to control valuable gene traits in plant biotechnology.
