Plants Having Increased Yield and a Method for Making the Same

Abstract

The present invention concerns a method for increasing plant yield by modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid encoding a synovial sarcoma translocation (SYT) polypeptide or a homologue thereof. One such method comprises introducing into a plant a SYT nucleic acid or variant thereof. The invention also relates to transgenic plants having introduced therein a SYT nucleic acid or variant thereof, which plants have increased yield relative to corresponding wild type plants. The present invention also concerns constructs useful in the methods of the invention.

1 . A method for increasing yield in a plant relative to a corresponding wild type plant, comprising introducing and expressing in a plant, plant part or plant cell a nucleic acid encoding a synovial sarcoma translocation (SYT) polypeptide or homologue thereof, and optionally selecting for a plant having increased yield relative to a corresponding wild type plant. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof comprises from N-terminal to C-terminal: (i) an SNH domain having at least 40% sequence identity to the SNH domain of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (ii) a Met-rich domain; and (iii) a QG-rich domain. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said SNH domain comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or SEQ ID NO: 98. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof further comprises one or more of the following: (i) SEQ ID NO: 90; (ii) SEQ ID NO: 91; (iii) a Met-rich domain at the N-terminus preceding the SNH domain. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding a SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof is of plant origin, from a dicotyledonous plant, from the family Brassicaceae, or from  Arabidopsis thaliana.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said homologue comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, or SEQ ID NO: 8. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said nucleic acid encoding a SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof is operably linked to a constitutive promoter or a GOS2 promoter. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said constitutive promoter is a plant-derived promoter or a promoter from a monocotyledonous plant. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said increased yield is increased seed yield, increased total seed yield, and/or increased TKW. 
     
     
         10 . A plant, plant part or plant cell obtained by the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A construct comprising:
 (a) a nucleic acid sequence encoding a SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof;   (b) one or more control sequences capable of driving expression of the nucleic acid sequence of (a); and optionally   (c) a transcription termination sequence,   wherein said SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof comprises from N-terminal to C-terminal: (i) an SNH domain having at least 40% sequence identity to the SNH domain of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (ii) a Met-rich domain; and (iii) a QG-rich domain.   
     
     
         12 . The construct of  claim 11 , wherein said SNH domain comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or SEQ ID NO: 98. 
     
     
         13 . The construct of  claim 11 , wherein said SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof further comprises one or more of the following: (i) SEQ ID NO: 90; (ii) SEQ ID NO: 91; (iii) a Met-rich domain at the N-terminus preceding the SNH domain. 
     
     
         14 . The construct of  claim 11 , wherein said control sequence is a constitutive promoter derived from a monocot plant, a GOS2 promoter, or a GOS2 promoter comprising the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 89. 
     
     
         15 . A plant, plant part or plant cell comprising the construct of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         16 . A method for the production of a transgenic plant having increased yield, comprising:
 (a) introducing in a plant or plant cell the construct of  claim 11 ;   (b) cultivating the plant or plant cell under conditions promoting plant growth and development; and   (c) optionally generating one or more subsequent generations of plants or parts thereof including seeds by crossing plants obtained from step (b).   
     
     
         17 . A transgenic plant or part thereof having increased yield relative to a corresponding wild type plant, resulting from overexpressing a nucleic acid encoding a SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof in said plant or part thereof, wherein said SYT polypeptide or homologue thereof comprises from N-terminal to C-terminal: (i) an SNH domain having at least 40% sequence identity to the SNH domain of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (ii) a Met-rich domain; and (iii) a QG-rich domain. 
     
     
         18 . The transgenic plant or part thereof of  claim 17 , wherein said plant is a monocotyledonous plant, sugar cane, a cereal, rice, maize, wheat, barley, millet, rye, oats or sorghum. 
     
     
         19 . Harvestable parts, seeds or a progeny of the transgenic plant of  claim 17 . 
     
     
         20 . The transgenic plant or part thereof of  claim 17 , wherein said increased yield is increased seed yield, increased total seed yield, and/or increased TKW.