Compositions and methods for producing plants with improved stress tolerance

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 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163; or   b) the complement of the sequence of a).   
     
     
         2 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide is derived from a plant species and comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO:160. 
     
     
         3 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide is derived from a dicotyledonous species and comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO:161. 
     
     
         4 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide is derived from a monocotyledonous species and comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO:162. 
     
     
         5 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163. 
     
     
         6 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the sequence encoding the polypeptide in a) has at least 95% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:201. 
     
     
         7 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the sequence encoding the polypeptide in a) has at least 95% identity to the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:201. 
     
     
         8 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the sequence encoding the polypeptide in a) has the sequence of SEQ ID NO:201. 
     
     
         9 . The isolated polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein the sequence encoding the polypeptide in a) has the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:201. 
     
     
         10 . A genetic construct comprising the polynucleotide of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A host cell comprising a genetic construct of  claim 10 . 
     
     
         12 . The host cell of  claim 11  genetically modified to express a polynucleotide comprising a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163. 
     
     
         13 . A plant cell or plant comprising the genetic construct of  claim 10 , or a plant part, propagule, progeny or see of the plant, wherein the plant part, propagule, progeny or seed of the plant comprises the genetic construct. 
     
     
         14 . A plant cell or plant of  claim 13  genetically modified to express a polynucleotide same as  claim 13 , or a plant part, propagule, progeny or see of the plant, wherein the plant part, propagule, progeny or seed of the plant expresses the polynucleotide. 
     
     
         15 . An isolated polypeptide comprising:
 a) a sequence with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 163; or   b) a fragment of at least 5 contiguous amino acids of the sequence in a), wherein the fragment has essentially the same activity as the polypeptide in a).   
     
     
         16 . The isolated polypeptide of  claim 15 , wherein the sequence in a) has the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 163. 
     
     
         17 . An antibody raised against a polypeptide of  claim 16 . 
     
     
         18 . An isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide consisting of:
 a) a sequence with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 163; or   b) a fragment of at least 5 contiguous amino acids of the sequence in a).   
     
     
         19 . A genetic construct comprising the polynucleotide of  claim 18 . 
     
     
         20 . A probe or primer capable of hybridizing under stringent hybridization conditions to a polynucleotide consisting of:
 a) a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163; or   b) the complement of the sequence of a).   
     
     
         21 . The probe or primer of  claim 20 , comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of a polynucleotide consisting of:
 a) a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163; or   b) the complement of the sequence of a).   
     
     
         22 . A method for 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 transformation of a plant cell or plant with a genetic construct including:
 a) at least one polynucleotide comprising:
 i) a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163; or 
 ii) the complement of the sequence of a); or 
   b) at least one polynucleotide comprising a fragment, of at least 15 nucleotides in length, of the polynucleotide of a).   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the stress is environmental stress is drought stress. 
     
     
         24 . 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 comprising:
 a) a sequence encoding a polypeptide with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:163; or   b) the complement of the sequence of a).   
     
     
         25 . 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 polypeptide comprising:
 a) a sequence with at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 163.