Casein kinase stress-related polypeptides and methods of use in plants

Abstract

A transgenic plant transformed by a casein kinase Stress-Related Polypeptide (CKSRP) coding nucleic acid, wherein expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant results in increased tolerance to environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant. Also provided are agricultural products, including seeds, produced by the transgenic plants. Also provided are isolated CKSRPs, and isolated nucleic acid coding CKSRPs, and vectors and host cells containing the latter.

1 . A transgenic plant cell transformed with a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is defined in SEQ ID NO:2.  
     
     
         2 . The transgenic plant cell of  claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises a polynucleotide as defined in SEQ ID NO:1.  
     
     
         3 . A transgenic plant cell transformed with a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C., as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell; wherein the nucleic acid hybridizes under stringent conditions to at least one sequence from the group consisting of a sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 and the full-length complement of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1; and wherein the stringent conditions comprise hybridization in a 6× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) solution at 65° C.  
     
     
         4 . A transgenic plant cell transformed with a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide having at least 80% sequence identity with a polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C., as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell.  
     
     
         5 . A transgenic plant comprising the transgenic plant cell according to any one of claims  1 ,  2 ,  3 , or  4 .  
     
     
         6 . A seed comprising the transgenic plant cell according to any one of claims  1 ,  2 ,  3 , or  4 .  
     
     
         7 . A seed produced by a transgenic plant comprising a plant cell according to any of claims  1 ,  2 ,  3 , or  4 , wherein the seed comprises the nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide, wherein the seed is true breeding for an increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell, and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.  
     
     
         8 . An isolated nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein the nucleic acid comprises a polynucleotide that encodes the polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2.  
     
     
         9 . The nucleic acid of  claim 8 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the polynucleotide as defined in SEQ ID NO:1.  
     
     
         10 . An isolated nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C. as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell; wherein the nucleic acid hybridizes under stringent conditions to at least one sequence from the group consisting of a sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 and the full-length complement of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1; and wherein the stringent conditions comprise hybridization in a 6× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) solution at 65° C.  
     
     
         11 . An isolated nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide having at least 80% sequence identity with a polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C., as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell.  
     
     
         12 . A seed comprising the isolated nucleic acid according to any one of claims  8 ,  9 ,  10 , or  11 .  
     
     
         13 . An isolated recombinant expression vector comprising a nucleic acid of any one of claims  8 ,  9 ,  10 , or  11 , wherein expression of the polypeptide in a plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell, and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.  
     
     
         14 . A method of producing a transgenic plant comprising a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, comprising, 
 a. transforming a plant cell with the expression vector of  claim 13;  and    b. generating from the plant cell a transgenic plant that expresses the polypeptide;    wherein the polypeptide is defined in SEQ ID NO:2.    
     
     
         15 . A method of producing a transgenic plant comprising a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant results in the plant's increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant, comprising, 
 a. transforming a plant cell with the expression vector of  claim 13;  and    b. generating from the plant cell a transgenic plant that expresses the polypeptide;    wherein the nucleic acid hybridizes under stringent conditions to at least one sequence from the group consisting of a sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 and the full-length complement of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1; wherein the stringent conditions comprise hybridization in a 6× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) solution at 65° C.; and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.    
     
     
         16 . A method of producing a transgenic plant comprising a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant results in the plant's increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant, comprising, 
 a. transforming a plant cell with the expression vector of  claim 13;  and    b. generating from the plant cell a transgenic plant that expresses the polypeptide;    wherein the polypeptide has at least 80% sequence identity with the polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.    
     
     
         17 . A transgenic plant cell transformed with a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide having at least 50% sequence identity with the central protein kinase domain of a polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, or SEQ ID NO:20, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C., as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell.  
     
     
         18 . The transgenic plant cell of  claim 17 , wherein the nucleic acid encodes a polypeptide having a central protein kinase domain comprising: 
 a. a first region that commences with a glycine residue at position 1 and that has a glycine at position 3 and a phenylalanine residue at position 5;    b. a second region that is downstream from the first region, that commences with a valine residue at position 1, and that has a lysine at position 4, a glutamate residue at position 6, a glutamine residue at position 14, a leucine residue at position 15, a glutamate residue at position 18, a tyrosine residue at position 22, a proline residue at position 32, a glycine residue at position 38, a asparagine residue at position 44, a leucine residue at positions 50 and 51, a glycine residue at position 52, a proline residue at position 53, a leucine residue at position 55, a leucine residue at position 58, a phenylalanine residue at position 59, a cysteine residue at position 62, a phenylalanine residue at position 66, a lysine residue at position 69, a threonine residue at position 70, a glutamine residue at position 77, a isoleucine residue at position 79, a histidine residue at position 86, an arginine residue at position 93, an aspartic acid residue at position 94, a lysine residue at position 96, a proline residue at position 97, a asparagine residue at position 99, a phenylalanine residue at position 100, and a leucine residue at position 101;    c. a third region that is downstream from the second region, that commences with an aspartic acid residue at position 1, and that has an alanine residue at position 5, a lysine residue at position 6, a tyrosine residue at position 8, an aspartic acid residue at position 10, a threonine residue at position 13, a histidine residue at position 16, a isoleucine residue at position 17, a proline residue at position 18, a tyrosine residue at position 19, a arginine residue at position 20, a lysine residue at position 23, a glycine residue at position 27, a threonine residue at position 28, a alanine residue at position 29, a arginine residue at position 30, a tyrosine residue at position 31, a serine residue at position 33, an asparagines residue at position 35, a histidine residue at position 37, a glycine residue at position 39, a glutamate residue at position 41, a serine residue at position 43, an arginine residue at position 44, an arginine residue at position 45, an aspartic acid residue at position 46, an aspartic acid residue at position 47, a glutamate residue at position 49, a glycine residue at position 52, a tyrosine residue at position 57, a phenylalanine residue at position 58, a leucine residue at position 63, a proline residue at position 64, a tryptophan residue at position 65, a glutamine residue at position 66, and a glycine residue at position 67, and    d. a fourth region that is downstream from the third region, that commences with a proline residue at position 1, and that has an arginine residue at position 12, a leucine residue at position 14, a phenylalanine residue at position 16, a proline residue at position 20, an aspartic acid residue at position 21, a tyrosine residue at position 22, an aspartic acid residue at position 41, an aspartic acid residue at position 45, and a tryptophan residue at position 46.    
     
     
         19 . A transgenic plant comprising the transgenic plant cell according to  claim 17 .  
     
     
         20 . A transgenic plant comprising the transgenic plant cell according to  claim 18 .  
     
     
         21 . A seed comprising the transgenic plant cell according to  claim 17 .  
     
     
         22 . A seed comprising the transgenic plant cell according to  claim 18 .  
     
     
         23 . A seed produced by a transgenic plant comprising a plant cell according to  claim 17 , wherein the seed comprises the nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide, wherein the seed is true breeding for an increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell, and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.  
     
     
         24 . A seed produced by a transgenic plant comprising a plant cell according to  claim 18 , wherein the seed comprises the nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide, wherein the seed is true breeding for an increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell, and wherein the environmental stress is selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C.  
     
     
         25 . An isolated nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide having at least 80% sequence identity with the central protein kinase domain of a polypeptide as defined in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, or SEQ ID NO:20, wherein expression of the polypeptide in the plant cell results in the plant cell's increased tolerance to an environmental stress selected from one or more of the group consisting of drought and temperature less than or equal to 0° C., as compared to a wild type variety of the plant cell.  
     
     
         26 . The isolated nucleic acid of  claim 25 , wherein the nucleic acid encodes a polypeptide having a central protein kinase domain comprising: 
 a. a first region that commences with a glycine residue at position 1 and that has a glycine at position 3 and a phenylalanine residue at position 5;    b. a second region that is downstream from the first region, that commences with a valine residue at position 1, and that has a lysine at position 4, a glutamate residue at position 6, a glutamine residue at position 14, a leucine residue at position 15, a glutamate residue at position 18, a tyrosine residue at position 22, a proline residue at position 32, a glycine residue at position 38, a asparagine residue at position 44, a leucine residue at positions 50 and 51, a glycine residue at position 52, a proline residue at position 53, a leucine residue at position 55, a leucine residue at position 58, a phenylalanine residue at position 59, a cysteine residue at position 62, a phenylalanine residue at position 66, a lysine residue at position 69, a threonine residue at position 70, a glutamine residue at position 77, a isoleucine residue at position 79, a histidine residue at position 86, an arginine residue at position 93, an aspartic acid residue at position 94, a lysine residue at position 96, a proline residue at position 97, a asparagine residue at position 99, a phenylalanine residue at position 100, and a leucine residue at position 101;    c. a third region that is downstream from the second region, that commences with an aspartic acid residue at position 1, and that has an alanine residue at position 5, a lysine residue at position 6, a tyrosine residue at position 8, an aspartic acid residue at position 10, a threonine residue at position 13, a histidine residue at position 16, a isoleucine residue at position 17, a proline residue at position 18, a tyrosine residue at position 19, a arginine residue at position 20, a lysine residue at position 23, a glycine residue at position 27, a threonine residue at position 28, a alanine residue at position 29, a arginine residue at position 30, a tyrosine residue at position 31, a serine residue at position 33, an asparagines residue at position 35, a histidine residue at position 37, a glycine residue at position 39, a glutamate residue at position 41, a serine residue at position 43, an arginine residue at position 44, an arginine residue at position 45, an aspartic acid residue at position 46, an aspartic acid residue at position 47, a glutamate residue at position 49, a glycine residue at position 52, a tyrosine residue at position 57, a phenylalanine residue at position 58, a leucine residue at position 63, a proline residue at position 64, a tryptophan residue at position 65, a glutamine residue at position 66, and a glycine residue at position 67, and    d. a fourth region that is downstream from the third region, that commences with a proline residue at position 1, and that has an arginine residue at position 12, a leucine residue at position 14, a phenylalanine residue at position 16, a proline residue at position 20, an aspartic acid residue at position 21, a tyrosine residue at position 22, an aspartic acid residue at position 41, an aspartic acid residue at position 45, and a tryptophan residue at position 46.