Zea mays Nucleotide Sequences Modulating Plant Biomass
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for improved corn plants with enhanced hardiness, yield, reduced nitrogen and chemical fertilizer requirements, and the ability to thrive under various growing conditions to meet increasing global energy and nutrition demands.
Innovation Solution
The use of isolated nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides from Zea mays to modulate plant characteristics such as size, biomass, stress tolerance, and compositional traits, achieved through genetic manipulation and expression in plants, allowing for the creation of transgenic plants with improved growth and phenotype characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional breeding programs are used to improve plant characteristics, then plant hardiness and yield can be enhanced, but the process requires extensive time and multiple generations to achieve desired traits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by using molecular markers to identify and select plants with desired traits before actual breeding occurs. This allows breeders to pre-screen large populations for specific genetic characteristics (such as drought tolerance or yield potential) using DNA markers associated with those traits, thereby eliminating the need to grow and evaluate multiple generations of plants to observe phenotypic expressions. The molecular marker analysis is performed in advance on seedling tissue, enabling early selection decisions that dramatically reduce the time required to develop improved varieties while maintaining reliable trait expression.
2Productivity
If molecular marker technology is implemented to accelerate breeding, then breeding efficiency increases, but the complexity of the breeding program and required technical expertise increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs molecular markers as intermediary tools that bridge the gap between conventional phenotypic selection and genetic reality. These DNA-based markers serve as mediators that allow breeders to indirectly assess complex traits (such as stress tolerance or yield potential) without needing to physically express and measure those traits in the field. The markers act as surrogate indicators that simplify the breeding decision-making process by providing direct genetic information, thereby increasing productivity while managing program complexity through the use of standardized molecular assays and interpretation protocols.
3Productivity
If corn plants are bred for increased biomass production, then energy output and yield improve, but the plants require more nitrogen and chemical fertilizers to achieve this growth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by using molecular markers to identify plants with genetically determined efficiency in nutrient utilization. Instead of simply selecting for maximum biomass regardless of input requirements, the marker-assisted selection process identifies variants that achieve high productivity through improved metabolic efficiency, root architecture, or nitrogen use efficiency. This changes the underlying parameters of plant growth by selecting for genotypes that can maintain high biomass production with reduced fertilizer inputs, thereby decoupling yield improvement from increased chemical dependency.
4Reliability
If corn is planted in temperate zones during spring to avoid cold sensitivity, then the plants can grow successfully, but the growing season is limited and planting time is constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using molecular markers to identify specific genetic variants of corn that possess localized adaptations to different environmental conditions. Rather than treating corn as a uniform crop with single optimal planting parameters, the marker-assisted selection identifies distinct genetic lines adapted to specific local conditions (such as cooler temperatures, shorter growing seasons, or specific soil types). This allows different localities to select corn varieties with genetically determined adaptations to their specific environments, thereby increasing growing condition flexibility while maintaining growth success in diverse temperate zone locations.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to isolated nucleic acid molecules and their corresponding encoded polypeptides. The present invention further relates to the uses of these nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides. For example, the nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides could be used in making enzymes or used to make plants, plant cells, plant materials or seeds of a plant having such modulated growth or phenotype characteristics that are altered with respect to wild type plants grown under similar conditions.