Expression of human hepatitis B virus surface antigen gene in transgenic tobacco.

Expression of Human hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) gene in plant was reported for the first time. The recombinant plasmid pRoKII-HBsAg was constructed by inserting HBsAg gene into the downstream of CaMV 35S promoter of binary vector pRoKII and then introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404. The kanamycin-resistant plants were obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. It was shown that HBsAg gene was expressed in transgenic tobacco plants and their progenies by ELISA. The spherical particles of psi 22 nm is the leaf extract of transgenic tobacco were observed by immunosorbent electron microscopy.