Transgenic plants incorporating traits of Zostera marina

Abstract

The invention provides methods and compositions related to transgenic plants which incorporate genetic traits of the marine eelgrass Zostera marina. These traits include pathogen resistance, which may be conferred by stimulating zosteric acid biosynthesis, and root anoxia resistance, which may be conferred by introducing one or more anoxia-induced or anoxia-resistance genes.

Description

1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] Selective plant breeding has been used to genetically improve crop plants throughout human history. Early hunter-gatherers selectively propagated plants with preferred properties, while early agriculturists deliberately saved seeds from preferred plant types and thereby gradually domesticated a majority of the crop plants known today. Over the past 50 years the combined efforts of plant breeders to successfully develop new crop cultivars have provided the basis for the consistent supply of food in a changing global environment and ever-changing pest and disease populations. This has been a major contributing factor toward the alleviation of world hunger and suffering, and, in some instances, the consequent maintenance of political stability. [0002] The development of plant molecular genetics has facilitated plant breeding methods through such techniques as marker-assisted selection, in which genetic maps of polymorphic markers are used to monito...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Nevertheless, such breeding techniques are ultimately limited by the diversity of the existing genetic material in crop plants.

This limitation to the development of crop plants with desirable new genetic traits is substantial in view of the limitations inherent in the genetic diversity of any individual plant species adapted to a select environment in general and the history of inbreeding of crop plants in particular.

Other environmental insults, such as flooding, can damage plants by causing root anoxia.

Indeed many agriculturally important crops are destroyed as a result of both infection by pathogens and root damage caused by flooding.

For example, corn is highly susceptible to flooding and water logged soil can account for 20-30% losses in the production of this crop in clay-rich soils.

The water logging of plant roots causes root anoxia, resulting in a build-up of ethanol and resultant loss of plant viability.

Another environmental stress which seriously affects the productivity of crop plants is salt-stress.

Yet another environmental stress which affects the worldwide productivity of crop plants is exposure to fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens.

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