Plants having modified growth characteristics and method for making the same

Abstract

The present invention concerns a method for modifying the growth characteristics of plants by modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a TAD protein and/or modulating activity in a plant of a TAD protein. The invention also relates to transgenic plants having modified growth characteristics, which plants have modulated expression of a nucleic acid encoding a TAD protein fragment.

1 . Transgenic plant having increased yield compared to corresponding wild type plants, characterised in that said transgenic plant has modulated expression of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a TAD protein and/or modulated activity of a TAD protein. 
     
     
         2 . Transgenic plant of  claim 1 , wherein said modulated expression and/or modulated activity is increased expression and/or increased activity, compared to corresponding wild type plants. 
     
     
         3 . Transgenic plant according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant is a crop plant such as soybean, sunflower, canola, alfalfa, rapeseed or cotton, preferably a monocotyledonous plant such as sugarcane, most preferably a cereal, such as rice, maize, wheat, millet, barley, sorghum. 
     
     
         4 . Transgenic plant cells, transgenic plant parts, including harvestable parts, propagules, seeds or progeny, of a plant according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         5 . Use of a transgenic plant according to  claim 1 , plant parts or seeds thereof for processing. 
     
     
         6 . A method for increasing seed yield of a plant compared to corresponding control plants comprising modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a TAD protein and/or modulating activity of a TAD protein. 
     
     
         7 . Method for the production of a transgenic plant having increased seed yield compared to corresponding control plants, which method comprises:
 a) introducing into a plant or plant cell a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2;   b) cultivating the plant or plant cell under conditions promoting regeneration and mature plant growth.