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Stress tolerance and delayed senescence in plants

a stress tolerance and plant technology, applied in the field of stress tolerance and delayed senescence in plants, can solve the problems of limited plant growth and crop productivity in agriculture, profound effects on little knowledge of the genetic mechanisms which control plant growth and development, so as to improve the stress tolerance of crop plants, enhance drought or stress tolerance of plants, and enhance drought or stress tolerance.

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-01-26
MCCOURT PETER +3
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] This invention also relates to a method for enhancing the drought or stress tolerance of plants by means of alterations in isolated or recombinant nucleic acids encoding a farnesyl transferase (Ftase) protein or fragment thereof or its functional equivalent. Nucleic acids which hybridize to the Ftase-encoding gene (ERA1) are also encompassed by this invention when such hybridizing sequences encode the functional equivalent of the Ftase protein. The present invention also relates to a method for enhancing the drought tolerance of plants through the genetic manipulation of ERA1 gene and its functional equivalents to improve stress tolerance in crop plants. Loss of ERA1 gene function confers enhanced tolerance to drought at the level of the mature plant. The nature of an era1 mutant with loss of Ftase activity, for example, demonstrates that inhibition of farnesylation enhances ABA responses in a plant.
[0008] Further, this invention relates to inhibition of senescence in photosynthetic organisms through inhibition of farnesyl transferase activity. The resulting photosynthetic organisms stay green and tissue viability is maintained for a longer period of time. Thus, methods to provide greener plants and a reduction in senescence are part of this invention.
[0009] In yet another embodiment, methods are provided to modify the growth habit and flower induction of plants. Loss of ERA1 gene function under particular environmental conditions results in a reduction in the number of lateral branches produced on a plant and an increase in the number of flowers per inflorescence.

Problems solved by technology

If however, the change in water deficit is prolonged the effects on the plant's growth and development can be profound.
Decreased water content due to drought, cold or salt stresses can irreparably damage plant cells which in turn limits plant growth and crop productivity in agriculture.
In addition, little is known of the genetic mechanisms which control plant growth and development.

Method used

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  • Stress tolerance and delayed senescence in plants
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  • Stress tolerance and delayed senescence in plants

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embodiments

[0204] The constructs and methods of this invention have numerous applications of commercial value, especially in the prevention of desiccation of plant tissues under periods of water stress. Genetic manipulation of crop plants incorporating inhibitors of Ftase or inactivation of the gene encoding endogenous plant Ftase would allow such plants to withstand transitory environmental stress and can broaden the environments where these plants can be grown. Thus, improving tolerance of crop plants to cold, salt and drought stress, can improve the yield of the plants under such adverse conditions.

[0205] The technology described herein can also be used to alter harvesting time and harvest quality of plants. For example, overexpression of Ftase could lead to faster drying times of crops, such as corn and other grasses. Drying corn involves the use of large amounts of propane gas. Drying times of crops such as hay, which dry naturally in the fields, could be shortened, making it less likely...

example 1

is Conditions

[0214]Arabidopsis plants used in this study were grown under continuous light in soil- or agar-containing petri plates as described elsewhere (Haughn and Somerville 1986). Two distinct wild-types of Arabidopsis were used: Meyerowitz's Colombia (MCol) (Lelhe Seeds, Dripping Springs, Tex.) and Wassilewskija (Ws) (ABRC, Ohio State University). T-DNA mutagenized seeds were screened and mutants were isolated in the Wassilewskija background. These were obtained from the Ohio State Arabidopsis seed stock collection (ABRC stock numbers CS2606-2654). The T-DNA seed collection was comprised of 49 pools of 1200 fourth generation (T4) offspring derived from 100 mutagenized parents. A mutagenized parent was obtained by incubating wild-type (T1) seeds overnight in a saturating Agrobacterium culture containing a T-DNA plasmid carrying a gene conferring kanamycin resistance. The seeds were then washed in water and planted into pots. T2 generation seed were obtained from each plant and ...

example 2

nalysis

[0216] Mutant lines were backcrossed to wild type three times. T-DNA mutations were backcrossed to Ws and fast neutron mutants to MCol. Segregation of the era phenotype was followed by plating F2 seeds on both 0.3 μM ABA and imbibing four days at 4° C. Following imbibition, plates were transferred to room temperature in the light. Germination was measured as the presence or absence of expanded cotyledons in seedlings one week after imbibition. Double mutants were constructed by crossing lines homozygous for each mutation following segregation and identifying lines that carried one of the mutant phenotypes. The abi3 allele used in this study is abi3-6 (Nambara et al., 1994) and the abi1 allele is abi1-1 (Koornneef et al., 1982). The era1-2 allele was used as the era parent. Segregation analysis suggested era I partially suppressed the insensitivity of abi1 to ABA, so F2 plants were first screened for insensitivity to 3 mM ABA, and F3 seed from these plants were scored for sens...

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Abstract

The novel constructs and methods of this invention improve tolerance in plants to environmental stresses and senescence. Nucleic acids encoding a plant farnesyl transferase are described, as are transgenic plants and seeds incorporating these nucleic acids and proteins. Also provided are inhibitors of naturally-occurring farnesyl transferase which, when expressed, will enhance drought tolerance in the plants, improve resistance to senescence and modify growth habit.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a Continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 229,541, filed Aug. 27, 2002 which is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 160,764, filed May 31, 2002 which claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 294,766, filed May 31, 2001 and U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 348,909, filed Oct. 22, 2001 and a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 210,760, filed Aug. 1, 2002 which claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 309,396, filed Aug. 1, 2001 and U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 337,084, filed Dec. 4, 2001 and a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 191,687, filed Nov. 13, 1998 which claims priority to PCT Application No. PCT / US 98 / 15664, filed Jul. 29, 1998, and U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 124,867, filed Jul. 30, 1998 both of which claim the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 054,474, filed Aug. 1, 1997, the contents of all of these applications which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Most higher plants encounter at least t...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): A01H1/00C12N15/82C12N9/10C12N9/50C12N15/54
CPCC12N9/1085C12N9/50C12N15/8261C12N15/8293C12N15/8273C12N15/8279C12N15/8282C12N15/8266Y02A40/146C12N9/63
Inventor MCCOURT, PETERGHASSEMIAN, MJIDCUTLER, SEANBONETTA, DARIO
Owner MCCOURT PETER
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