Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and – Method of introducing a polynucleotide molecule into or... – The polynucleotide confers pathogen or pest resistance
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-10
2003-12-09
McElwain, Elizabeth F. (Department: 1638)
Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and
Method of introducing a polynucleotide molecule into or...
The polynucleotide confers pathogen or pest resistance
C800S278000, C800S298000, C800S295000, C800S320000, C800S320100, C800S320200, C800S320300, C800S317000, C800S317100, C800S317200, C800S312000, C800S322000, C800S286000, C435S320100, C435S419000, C435S468000, C536S023100, C536S023600, C536S024100, C536S024500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06660907
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the genetic manipulation of plants, particularly to transforming plants with genes that enhance disease resistance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Throughout their lives, plants are routinely subjected to a variety of stresses, which act to impede or alter growth and development processes. Stresses to plants may be caused by both biotic and abiotic agents. For example, biotic causes of stress include infection with a pathogen, insect feeding, and parasitism by another plant such as mistletoe, and even grazing by ruminant animals. Abiotic stresses include osmotic stress, excessive light intensity or insufficient light intensity, cold temperatures, warm temperatures, synthetic chemicals such as those used in agriculture, and excessive wind.
Because a stress negatively impacts plant growth and development processes, stress to agricultural plants has a negative economic impact expressed in the form of reduced yields, increased expenditures for pesticides or both. Developing crop plants that are better able to tolerate or even avoid stresses is desirable and will most certainly improve agricultural productivity. Given the world's both increasing human population and diminishing land area available for agriculture, improving agricultural productivity is a paramount challenge. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms used by plants to avoid or tolerate stresses may help in the development of new strategies for improving the stress tolerance of agricultural plants.
In spite of the great frequency of stresses, plants survive, and often flourish. Plants are able to do this because of the evolution of a variety of internal and external mechanisms for avoiding or tolerating stress. For example, higher plants possess leaves with waxy, water-impermeable surfaces and pores known as stomata, which serve to allow the escape of water vapor during the process of transpiration. The periphery of the stomatal pores is lined with a pair of cells known as guard cells, which control the aperture of the pore. By modifying their size and shape through a turgor-pressure-mediated process, the guard cells can completely block the pore when conditions are unfavorable for transpiration during, for example, periods of low soil-water availability. Such a stress-avoidance system allows a plant to survive conditions of water stress by reducing transpiration to nearly zero and preventing dehydration.
Plants also possess defense systems which prevent or help limit the stresses resulting from attacks by pathogens and insects. One well-known defense system against plant pathogens is known as systemic acquired resistance. Another defense system is the systemic induction of proteinase inhibitors following insect damage, which is usually referred to as the systemic wound response. In both of these defense systems, the initial impact of the pathogen or insect is transmitted via a signal or signals to other parts of the plant which results in increased expression of genes encoding proteins that are directly or indirectly inhibitory to invading organisms. The associated, systemic increase in defense gene products is known to increase the resistance of the plant to both current and future stresses from pathogens and insects.
While certain components of the systems of plants use to respond to abiotic and biotic stresses are known, most components have yet to be elucidated. Uncovering the genetic components of such systems will provide plant breeders with new targets for crop improvement strategies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Compositions and methods for enhancing the resistance of plants to plant pests are provided. The compositions and methods find use in controlling plant pests, including fungal pathogens, viruses, nematodes, insects, and the like. Novel nucleotide sequences from soybean, rice, maize, and wheat which encode orthologs to sunflower SCIP-1 are provided. Also provided are the proteins encoded by the nucleotide sequences of the invention. The methods for enhancing resistance of plants to plant pests involve transforming a plant with nucleotide construct comprising an SCIP-1 nucleotide sequence of the invention. The nucleotide construct may additionally involve an operably linked promoter that drives expression in a plant cell. It is recognized that a variety of promoters will be useful in the invention, the choice of which will depend in part upon the desired level of expression of the SCIP-1 sequence in the plant or alternatively, in the plant organ.
Methods for altering the level of biotin in a plant are provided. The methods find use in increasing or decreasing the level of biotin in plant or part thereof. The methods involve transforming a plant with nucleotide construct comprising an SCIP-1 nucleotide sequence of the invention. In addition, the nucleotide construct may comprise an operably linked promoter that drives expression in plant cell.
Transformed plants, plant tissues, plant tissues, and seeds, as well as methods for making such plants and seeds are additionally provided.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is drawn to compositions comprising nucleotide sequences encoding orthologs of a novel sunflower protein, designated Sclerotinia Inducible Protein-1, or SCIP-1 (SEQ ID NO: 16), and the proteins encoded by such nucleotide sequences. See the copending application entitled “Sunflower RhoGAP, LOX, ADH, and SCIP-1 Polynucleotides and Methods of Use,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/166,128, filed Nov. 18, 1999; herein incorporated by reference. Sunflower SCIP-1 has limited homology with hypothetical proteins from several bacteria.
Transcript levels of sunflower SCIP-1 increase in both lesion mimic transgenic plants and Sclerotinia-infected plants. The accumulation of SCIP-1 in lesion mimic and infected sunflower plants indicates that the protein may be involved in the plant defense response to Sclerotinia and other pathogens.
In particular, the present invention provides isolated nucleotide sequences encoding SCIP-1 orthologs from soybean (SEQ ID NO: 1), rice (SEQ ID NO: 3), maize (SEQ ID NOs: 5 and 7), and wheat (SEQ ID NOs: 9, 11, and 13). Also provided are isolated proteins that are encoded by the nucleotide sequences of the invention (SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14). Such nucleotide sequences find use in methods for enhancing the resistance of plants to pests, particularly pathogens, including, but not limited to, fungal pathogens, viruses, bacteria, nematodes, and the like.
Methods are provided for enhancing the resistance of plants to pests. The methods find use in agriculture particularly in the development of new cultivars of crop plants with improved resistance to plant pests. Such new cultivars are desired by both producers and consumers alike because the new cultivars can enable producers to reduce the amount of synthetic chemical pesticides that are released into the environment. The methods of the invention involve transforming a plant with a nucleotide construct comprising at least one of the nucleotide sequences of the invention operably linked to a promoter that drives expression in a plant. Promoters of interest include, but are not limited to, constitutive, tissue-preferred, wound-inducible, insect-inducible, and pathogen-inducible. Of particular interest are pathogen-inducible promoters that increase gene expression in the vicinity of an infection site within the first few hours after commencement of the infection process.
Comparison of the SCIP-1 amino acid sequences of the invention to public sequence databases revealed significant homology to an
E. coli
protein that is involved in biotin synthesis. See, PCT patent publication WO 94/08023; herein incorporated by reference. Thus, plant SCIP-1 proteins may also be involved in biotin synthesis. The methods for enhancing the resistance of a plant to pests, however, do not depend on a particular biological mechanism, only that transforming a plant with a nucleotide sequence of the invention can enhance the resistance of the plant to at least one plant pest.
Met
Hendrick Carol A.
Hu Xu
Lu Guihua
Ibrahim Medina A.
McElwain Elizabeth F.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International , Inc.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.
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