Stress-inducible plant promoters

Abstract

The present invention discloses and claims stress-inducible plant promoters, DNA constructs with such promoters, transgenic plants containing such promoters and DNA constructs, isolated DNAs encoding such promoters, and methods of making and using such promoters, DNA constructs, transgenic plants, and isolated DNAs.

Description

[0001] This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 739,565 to Hinchey et al., filed 18 Dec. 2003 and published as U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004 / 0123347, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 435,987, filed 20 Dec. 2002, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein. This application further claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 547,761, filed 25 Feb. 2004, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. The sequence listing contained in the file named “38-15(53502)B.txt”, which is 8 kilobytes (measured in MS-Windows) and located in computer readable form on a compact disk created on 24 Feb. 2005, is filed herewith and incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to molecular biology, and more particularly to plant promoters useful, for example, in agricultural biotechnology. B...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022] Thus, the present invention provides DNA constructs with stress-inducible promoters for expressing heterologous DNA in plants during conditions of stress (for example, water deficit, or other stresses such as cold, heat, salt, pest, disease, or nutrient stress). One aspect of the invention provides a DNA construct including a promoter operably linked to a heterologous DNA, where the promoter is derived from the 5′ regulatory region of a rice RAB17, CA4H, HVA22, HSP17.5, HSP22, or HSP16.9 gene and exhibits promoter activity. Thus, one aspect of the invention provides a DNA construct including a promoter operably linked to a heterologous DNA, where the promoter includes a nucleic acid sequence from any of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:5, and SEQ ID NO:6. A further aspect of the invention provides a DNA construct including a promoter operably linked to a heterologous DNA, where the promoter includes at least 100 contiguous nucleotides which are identical or substantially identical to (that is to say, has at least about 85% sequence identity with) at least one segment of any of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:5, and SEQ ID NO:6, or a larger identical or substantially identical segment, e. g., about 125 nucleotides, about 300 nucleotides, about 500 nucleotides, about 750 nucleotides or more, as is described in further detail herein. Yet another aspect of the invention provides a DNA construct including a promoter of the invention, operably linked to a heterologous DNA which encodes a molecule imparting at least one characteristic selected from the group consisting of insect resistance or tolerance; viral, bacterial, fungal, or nematode disease resistance or tolerance; herbicide resistance or tolerance; enhanced grain composition or quality; enhanced nutrient transporter functions; enhanced nutrient utilization; enhanced environmental stress tolerance or resistance; reduced mycotoxin contamination; male sterility; female sterility; a selectable marker phenotype; a screenable marker phenotype; a negative selectable marker phenotype; a stress-responsive transcription factor; altered plant agronomic characteristics; enhanced kernel development; enhanced embryo development; enhanced general production or protection of next-generation tissues; enhanced grain agronomic characteristics; enhanced grain processing characteristics; and a combination thereof.

Problems solved by technology

Stress (for example, water deficit, cold, heat, salt, pest, disease, or nutrient stress), can have adverse effects on plants such as yield reductions, increased susceptibility to disease and pests, reduced plant growth, and reproductive failure.

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