Stress Tolerant Transgenic Crop Plants

Abstract

Disclosed herein are novel variant bacterial cold shock proteins and recombinant DNA for expressing such proteins to produce transgenic plants with enhanced stress tolerance and/or enhanced yield.

1 .- 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A recombinant DNA comprising a promoter that functions in plants operably linked to a polynucleotide encoding a protein, wherein said protein is a variant of a  Bacillus subtilis  cspB protein having at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 and comprising at least one mutation in a DOT4, region of residues 40 to 44 of SEQ ID NO:1. 
     
     
         14 . The recombinant DNA of  claim 13 , wherein said protein comprises a protein with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 30, SEQ ID NO: 61-66, SEQ ID NO: 107-111, SEQ ID NO: 173-177, SEQ ID NO: 216-219, SEQ ID NO: 253-260, SEQ ID NO: 264-265, SEQ ID NO: 268, SEQ ID NO: 269, SEQ ID NO: 636-644, and SEQ ID NO: 646-649. 
     
     
         15 . The recombinant DNA according to  claim 13 , wherein the promoter is selected from the group consisting of inducible promoters, constitutive promoters, temporal-regulated promoters, developmentally-regulated promoters, tissue-preferred promoters, cold enhanced promoters, cold-specific promoters, stress enhanced promoters, stress specific promoters, drought inducible promoters, water deficit inducible promoters, and tissue-specific promoters. 
     
     
         16 .- 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A non-natural transgenic plant comprising a recombinant DNA according to  claim 13 . 
     
     
         21 . A plant propagule of a transgenic plant of  claim 20 . 
     
     
         22 . A plant propagule of  claim 21 , wherein said propagule is a seed. 
     
     
         23 . A method for obtaining an abiotic-stress resistant plant comprising planting of a seed of  claim 22 . 
     
     
         24 .- 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A processed plant product comprising a detectable amount of the polynucleotide that is operably linked to the promoter of the recombinant DNA of  claim 13 . 
     
     
         30 . The processed plant product of  claim 29 , wherein said product comprises a feed, a meal, a flour, an extract, or a homogenate, wherein said feed, meal, flour, extract, or homogenate is obtained from at least one plant part. 
     
     
         31 . The processed plant product of  claim 30 , wherein said plant part is a stem, a leaf, a root, a flower, a tuber, or a seed. 
     
     
         32 . The processed product of  claim 29 , wherein said processed plant product comprises a composition enriched for one or more protein(s), one or more monosaccharide(s), one or more disaccharide(s), one or more polysaccharides, or one or more fatty acid(s). 
     
     
         33 .- 37 . (canceled) 
     
     
         38 . The recombinant DNA of  claim 13 , wherein said protein comprises a protein with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:30. 
     
     
         39 . The transgenic plant of  claim 20 , wherein said recombinant DNA encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:30. 
     
     
         40 . The plant propagule of  claim 22 , wherein said recombinant DNA encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:30. 
     
     
         41 . The plant propagule of  claim 22 , wherein the seed is selected from the group consisting of a soybean, a corn, a canola, a rice, a cotton, a barley, an oat, an alfalfa, a turf grass, a cotton, and a wheat seed.