Abstract: With the development of plant genetic engineering, the application of plant chemical induced gene expression system is becoming more and more important. Chemical induced gene expression system typically consists of two components, the first component is mostly a chimeric transcription factor which can specific bind to the promoter. The second element has a transcription factor binding site for the first element, and thereby controlling the expression of target genes. Here, we review the current widely used one component inducible gene expression system, such as the tetracycline inducible expression system, and two components inducible expression systems, including: ethanol-induced, dexamethasone-induced, β2 estrogen hormone-induced and heat shock-induced systems. This paper mainly discusses the recent progress on chemical inducing gene expression systems and their potential use in plants.

Key words: chemical induction, activator, effector, single gene cassette, binary gene cassette