Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMGCoA) reductase, a key enzyme of the mevalonate pathway is known to play a key role in the biosynthesis of terpenoids. Here we describe, the cloning and characterization of hmgr1 promoter from Andrographis paniculate. A 710 bp partial promoter fragment including a putative TATA box, 5′ UTR and 5′ coding sequence of the gene was cloned by amplifying the upstream sequences using PCR with appropriate primers. Analysis of the promoter sequence against PLACE (Plant cis-acting Regulatory DNA Elements) database showed the presence of certain putative light dependent regulatory cis-elements in the sequence along with TATA and CAAT boxes. RT-PCR detected GUS transcripts in transgenic plants.
