BBF RFC 106: A Standard Type IIS Syntax for Plants

Abstract

Here we define a standard syntax for assembling standard parts for expression in plant cells, extensible to all other eukaryotes. Variations of the Type IIS mediated cloning method known as Golden Gate Cloning, most notably Golden Braid (GB2.0) and Golden Gate Modular Cloning (MoClo) are in common use, particularly for the assembly of plasmids for delivery to plant cells. Many characterised plant parts compatible with Type IIS mediated assembly are available outside of the Registry of Standard Parts, as well as plasmids with the features necessary for delivery of DNA to plants cells via the shuttle chassis, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This RFC describes a consensus Type IIS syntax for plant parts to allow assembly into complete eukaryotic transcriptional units in plasmid vectors that contain the necessary features for transfection of plant chassis. We use Marchantia polymorpha, a primitive and easy-to-engineer liverwort and Nicotiana benthamiana a model plant as exemplar chassis.