Sweet Corn sh2-i Allele for Seed Vigor and Sugar Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sweet corn varieties, particularly those with the shrunken-2 (sh2) gene, suffer from reduced germination and seedling vigor, poor seed quality, and rapid conversion of sugar to starch, leading to diminished shelf life and harvest window, despite having high sugar content.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of the shrunken-2i (sh2-i) mutant allele, which introduces a single base pair change in the shrunken-2 gene, enhances germination, seedling vigor, and plant growth while maintaining sweetness, but results in accelerated starch synthesis post-peak eating stage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the shrunken-2 (sh2) gene is used to increase sugar content, then sweetness is improved, but germination and seedling vigor are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by introducing a single base pair substitution in the sh2 gene that alters the encoded protein's function. This nucleotide-level parameter change modifies the gene's expression or protein activity to simultaneously improve germination vigor while maintaining high sugar content, resolving the contradiction between these two traits.
2Quantity of substance
If the shrunken-2 (sh2) gene is used to increase sugar content, then sweetness is improved, but shelf life is reduced due to rapid starch conversion
Solution Approach 1:
The single base pair substitution in the sh2 gene represents a parameter change that modifies the gene's functional properties. This alteration appears to affect the balance between sugar accumulation and starch conversion rates, extending the period during which sweetness is maintained while reducing the rate of starch accumulation that leads to toughening.
3Reliability
If the shrunken-2i (sh2-i) mutant allele is used to improve germination and seedling vigor, then agronomic characteristics are improved, but starch synthesis is accelerated post-peak eating stage
Solution Approach 1:
The sh2-i allele appears to provide preliminary action by enhancing germination and seedling vigor early in development. This early benefit is achieved through modified gene function that promotes robust growth, while the trade-off of accelerated starch synthesis occurs only after the peak eating stage, when the crop has already established its consumer quality.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention provides methods for producing plants, plant materials and seeds that have multiple desirable attributes for consumers of these products, as well as for commercial plant growers, and to improved plants, plant materials and seeds that are produced by these methods. These inventive methods provide hybrid plants, plant materials and seeds having the mutant shrunken-2i (sh2-i) allele incorporated into their genomes, preferably sequentially along with one or more other mutant alleles, such as the sugary- 1 (su1), sugary enhancer- 1 (se1) and/or shrunken-2 (sh2) alleles, and that have multiple beneficial traits, including an extended sugar retention ability at the post prime eating stage and a significantly enhanced vigor and fitness to the plant, plant material and / or seed during seed germination, seedling emergence from soil, and plant development.