Compositions and methods for the improvement of plants

Abstract

The invention provides compositions and methods useful for producing plant cells or plants with altered tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity.

1 . An isolated polynucleotide comprising:
 a) a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 70% identity to any one of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO:3, 9 and 12, wherein the polypeptide modulates in a plant, tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity;   b) the complement of the sequence of a).   
     
     
         2 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO:248, 250 and 251. 
     
     
         3 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:3. 
     
     
         4 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:9. 
     
     
         5 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:12. 
     
     
         6 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide-encoding sequence in a) has at least 70% identity to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11. 
     
     
         7 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide-encoding sequence in a) has at least 70% identity to the coding sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11. 
     
     
         8 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide-encoding sequence in a) has the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11. 
     
     
         9 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide-encoding sequence in a) has the coding sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11. 
     
     
         10 . An isolated polynucleotide comprising:
 a) a sequence with at least 70% identity to any one of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11, wherein the sequence encodes a polypeptide that modulates in a plant, tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity; or   b) the complement of the sequence of a);   
     
     
         11 . A genetic construct comprising a polynucleotide of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . A host cell comprising a genetic construct of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         13 . A host cell genetically modified to comprise a polynucleotide of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A plant cell or plant comprising the genetic construct of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         15 . A plant cell or plant genetically modified to comprise a polynucleotide of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         16 . A plant part, propagule, progeny or seed of the plant of  claim 15 . 
     
     
         17 . An isolated polypeptide comprising at least 5 contiguous amino acids of a protein with at least 70% identity to an amino acid sequence selected from any one of SEQ ID NO:3, 6, 9 and 12, wherein the isolated polypeptide modulates in a plant, tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity. 
     
     
         18 . The isolated polypeptide of  claim 17  comprising a sequence selected from any one of SEQ ID NO:3, 6, 9 and 12. 
     
     
         19 . An antibody raised against a polypeptide of  claim 17 . 
     
     
         20 . A method of producing a plant cell or plant with altered tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity, the method comprising the step of transforming a plant cell or plant with:
 a) at least one polynucleotide of  claim 1 ;   b) at least one polynucleotide comprising a fragment, of at least 15 nucleotides in length, of the polynucleotide of a), or   c) at least one polynucleotide comprising a complement, of at least 15 nucleotides in length, of the polynucleotide of a)   d) at least one polynucleotide, of at least 15 nucleotides in length, capable of hybridising under stringent conditions to the polynucleotide of a), b) or c).   
     
     
         21 . A plant produced by the method of  claim 20 . 
     
     
         22 . A plant part, propagule, progeny or seed of the plant of  claim 21 . 
     
     
         23 . A method for selecting a plant with altered tolerance to at least one environmental stress selected from drought, cold, freezing, heat and salinity, the method comprising testing of a plant for altered expression of a polynucleotide of  claim 1 , or altered expression of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         24 . A population or group of plants selected by the method of  claim 23 .