We obtained transgenic maize plants by using high-velocity microprojectiles to transfer genes into embryongenic cells. Two selectable genes were used to confer resistance to either chlorsulfuron or phosphinothricin, and genes encoding either E. coli beta-glucuronidase or firefly luciferase were used as markers to provide convenient assays for transformation. When regenerated without selection, only two of the eight transformed embryogenic calli obtained produced transgenic maize plants. With selection, transgenic plants were obtained from three of the other eight calli. One of the two initial lines produced 15 fertile transgenic plants. The progeny of these plants contained and expressed the foreign genes. Luciferase expression could be visualized, in the presence of added luciferin, by overlaying leaf sections with color film.

No abstract

Cell proliferation requires the coordinated activity of cytosolic and mitochondrial metabolic pathways to provide ATP and building blocks for DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. Many metabolic pathway genes are targets of the c-myc oncogene and cell-cycle regulator. However, the contribution of c-Myc to the activation of cytosolic and mitochondrial metabolic networks during cell-cycle entry is unknown. Here, we report the metabolic fates of [U-13 C] glucose in serum-stimulated myc À/À and myc þ / þ fibroblasts by 13 C isotopomer NMR analysis. We demonstrate that endogenous c-myc increased 13 C labeling of ribose sugars, purines and amino acids, indicating partitioning of glucose carbons into C1/folate and pentose phosphate pathways, and increased tricarboxylic acid cycle turnover at the expense of anaplerotic flux. Myc expression also increased global O-linked N-acetylglucosamine protein modification, and inhibition of hexosamine biosynthesis selectively reduced growth of Myc-expressing cells, suggesting its importance in Myc-induced proliferation. These data reveal a central organizing function for the Myc oncogene in the metabolism of cycling cells. The pervasive deregulation of this oncogene in human cancers may be explained by its function in directing metabolic networks required for cell proliferation.

Mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, face two imperatives concerning biogenesis. The first is the requirement for dividing cells to replicate their mitochondrial content by growth of existing mitochondria. The second is the dynamic regulation of mitochondrial content in response to organismal and cellular cues (e.g., exercise, caloric restriction, energy status, temperature). MYC provides the clearest example of a programmed expansion of mitochondrial content linked to the cell cycle. As an oncogene, MYC also presents intriguing questions about the role of its mitochondrial targets in cancer-related phenotypes, such as the Warburg effect and MYC-dependent apoptosis.